The first thing I see after entering the third floor is a lot of shelves. There are what seems like thirty to forty of them arranged against the wall. These shelves seem to contain remains of what must have been books once upon a time.

In front of them are the rotted remains of what look like chairs and tables all around, this place looks like an open library. It's similar to the Imperial Library. The only difference is that in the Imperial Library the books were protected from outside influence but the one before me wasn't.

The windows of this floor are broken so nature was able to exert its influence here. And it looks like most if not all of the books are destroyed.

If there is one specific building assigned to function as a library then why is there another in here?

Why can't they store everything in one place like at Imperial Library where it's protected from the outside influence?

Hmm.

The only reason I can think of was that the main building was for royalty and this one was for the mages of the tower.

Then they should have at least protected this place like they did at the Imperial Library. There's no use crying over it now, the only thing I can do is go through each and every one of these books so that I wouldn't miss any of them that are in good condition. Before that, I need to clean up this floor first.

I could already see quite a few skeletons loitering around the open library, more should be in those large rooms that are on the opposite side of the library. As I've already decided that I will focus on close combat from now, I lure the first skeleton mage towards the stairs.

As soon as it was near the stairs and I was confident that no other skeleton would disturb our fight, I charged towards it. Not Blink but a normal charge and not in a straight line but zig-zagging so that it wouldn't be able to get a lock on me to fire its projectile spell.

I was able to close the distance between us and started attacking it with normal attacks while moving around it so as to not give it any chance to lock down my position. If it was able to lock my position down, it could fire its projectile spell at me within seconds.

As soon as my first attack was about to land on it, it was blocked by its defensive spell. Normally I would curse seeing a defensive barrier but for my purpose today it's better this way, as I can get more out of each of these skeletons.

These skeletons mages must have invested most of their attributes into their mental stats, as the one before me couldn't respond to my speed. It tried to hit me twice with its projectile but it couldn't get a clean lock on me and missed both of them.

Wait, why did I assume these skeletons gain attributes just like I do?

Do they even get them?

Even if they do get them, do they know how to use them?

Or does the system directly apply them to their attributes at each level?

Focus.

This isn't the place for idle thoughts.

As I was getting quite confident that this would be easier than I imagined, the skeleton stopped moving around trying to get a lock on me. I didn't think much of that at the time and increased my attacks on it so that its defensive skill will be broken a little faster.

That was a mistake as suddenly a concussive blast hits and lifts me off the ground and threw down the stairs. I fell directly on my head, bleeding and dazed. I was down for another few seconds when another spell hit me in my left leg which woke me up from my dazed state.

I look up to see that the skeleton is trying to come down the stairs but it looks like that's going to be difficult so it started hurling its spells at me. I immediately Blink away from its range down the stairs and check the wound on my leg.

There is some greyish-green substance that looks a lot similar to acid is all over my body but a large condensed part of it is on my leg but it isn't acid as the wound isn't corroding. The part around the wound where most of the substance is starting to numb and it's spreading all over my body slowly.

I don't like the idea of my whole body going numb so I try to remove it by rubbing it off with my fingers. Instead of removing it, I spread it to my fingers. Okay, touching it is a no-go.

How should I remove it?

I'll use a torch for now. I retrieve a torch from storage and start removing the substance of me, starting from my face. I should start collecting wood and leaves to make some form of brush that can be used in situations like these.

By the time I reached my wound to clean it, my whole left leg is numb and I can't move it. I clean the leg but I don't feel anything of it, looks like it's paralyzed.

Is this permanent?

Was that some kind of poison or paralysis magic?

Is paralysis magic even a thing?

And what was that blast that threw me off my feet?

Was that some kind of skill?

These questions keep piling up. I eat an Atulica leaf to regenerate my health and wait, hoping that the paralysis isn't permanent.

Looks like I have some time to think as the skeleton really seems to be struggling with stairs.

Was that blast some kind of skill?

How much mana does it cost?

And here I thought these skeletons mages were the dumb ones who know only two types of spells.

Does that mean they have other spells in their arsenal?

If yes then why didn't they use against me before?

While I was trying to drain my brain matter my thinking about all these unanswered questions, I started feeling my left leg once again. Good. It seems the effect isn't permanent. I can go back and continue the fight.

But how do I address that blast spell?

I could easily Blink next to it and kill it with Spatial Slash but that would defeat the purpose. I need to deal with it while I'm engaged in close combat. It's times like these I wish I had taken the Mana Perception skill instead of any other skills that aren't required for my class upgrade.

If I had that skill I could easily check when mana is being condensed near the skeleton and know that some kind of spell is going to be used.

Can I give up on any of my present skills?

Ugh, No I can't, the rest of the skills are too important to lose. I have to bear with it until I gain a class.

Then how do I solve the problem before me?

Hmm.

The skeleton did stop trying to position itself just before using that skill.

Maybe I Blink out of its range when it stays still?

Would that work?

Guess I'll find out.

I Blink back to the skeleton that's still struggling at the stairs and start attacking it while keeping a close eye on its body language. It immediately didn't go for that skill, it tried shooting me two more times with a projectile spell, and when that failed it went still again.

Taking that as my cue, I blinked out of its range to see a concussive blast of the same greyish-green substance originating from the skeleton forming a five-meter sphere around it for a second. Okay, so it does stop for a second to use that spell and its range is five meters, that's good information.

After that, the fights became monotonous, the skeletons can't get a lock on me and when they try to use that blast spell I Blink out of its range and then charge back in after a second. They did use another spell, some kind of locking spell to try and stop me in a place for a few seconds.

The first time a skeleton used the spell, it was successful and I was locked at the position for a few seconds in which time I took two consecutive projectiles directly on my body. But after that, I didn't give them time to lock me down like that.

Although the fights were easy compared to dodging spells range, a lot of stamina is being consumed during each of these fights as I had to move around them without staying at a single spot for more than a second. But that did help me improve on how to micromanage my movements to decrease my stamina consumption even if by a little.

Although I had to take large breaks in between the fights to regain my stamina even with Yaire leaves help, I was able to clean up the floor of its skeletons thoroughly.

You have defeated a Corrupted Apprentice Mage x18

I took some time to rest my mind and body after all the fights. After that came the looting process which I'm getting increasingly familiar with and I did find some books that were in good condition in the open library.

Although due to the surrounding environment, the books have accumulated a lot of dust on them, I need to clean them before I can read them. I'll go through them after going back to the Temple. As for the four large rooms that were on the opposite side of the library, they looked to me like classrooms.

I guessed that by looking at the remains of chairs and tables that were arranged in neat straight lines to face the front of a room where the floor is raised a bit high like a dais from where the teachers must teach.

I mean what else could it be?

I did find an empty book and a quill attached to it in the last classroom which seems to a magic item set.

Andur's Tome and Quill

Grade : Rare

Type : Tool

A tome and quill invented by Andur.

The book's size is of a normal 30 x 30 cm book from back home and it's totally empty. The poor chap who brought this didn't even have the chance to use it. There is a lot of dust accumulated on it due to the surrounding environment but the inside of the book is clean.

As for the quill, its size is similar to a pen. A little smaller than what I expected of a quill size to be from what I saw online. Its color is pure black similar to the cover of the tome.

Now that I have a book and a quill, I tried writing in the book using the quilI. It didn't work at first as similar to all other magic items I need to infuse my mana into it for it to work which I keep forgetting every time.

After supplying it with mana, I was able to use it and it was like using any other pen, smoother even. As both of them seems to be working, I sat down right there and immediately started jotting down everything I've done from the day I was summoned here.

The big pile of questions I have, what type of monsters I've faced, important plants found in the forest, my plans about the future, everything I can remember. After that, I drew a rough map of the place on the next page. Now I'll at least have something to write my thoughts in so that I don't forget anything.

I look around the floor once more to see that it has been looted clean.

On to the next floor.

As I enter the fourth floor, I could immediately feel that this floor is different from the lower ones. It's more of an instinct than a feeling, I can't be sure why but it feels like if I make even a single mistake on this floor, there is a chance I may die.

The floor's size is smaller than the lower levels and is divided into four sections each section having its own entrances. Hmm. Let me see, first floor was a mess hall, second floor was a lodging for apprentice level mages and the third floor has a library and what looked like classrooms.

If I go by that logic then these four sections must accommodate those who teach the apprentice mages in the classrooms below. I need to scout this floor before I decide to do anything. I actively stealthed and slowly moved towards the first section entrance.

I move through it to find an almost eight feet tall hulking human figure which is in the early stage of decomposition moving around on the far end of the section. If I didn't know any better, I would say that I'm looking at a walking corpse of a giant.

Similar to other undead I've faced until now there is nothing on him that looks even a little bit useful, just bits of clothing stuck here and there in its flesh. Then I made the first mistake of the day, I used my skill Appraisal on it in order to analyze him.

Name : Janus Arthridge

Race : Human

Level : 6

Bloodline : N / A

Class : N / A

Level : 10

Health : 190 / 190

Stamina : 200 / 200

Mana : 290 / 290

Attributes

Strength : 10

Dexterity : 30

Vitality : 19

Endurance : 20

Resilience : 10

Perception : 30

Intelligence : 10

Control : 10

Wisdom : 29

Willpower : 10

Attribute Points : 2

Skills

Appraisal Lv.2

Stealth Lv.3

Meditation Lv.6

Space Mana Manipulation Lv.7

Blink Lv.1

Spatial Slash Lv.1

Longsword Mastery Lv.6

Corruption Resistance Lv.3

Spatial Storage Lv. 1

Spatial Shield Lv.1

Skill Slots : 0

Perks

Otherworlder

Summoned Being

Polyglot