Chapter 6: Scribe Eater

"Hollee crap Iris, exactly how was that a student spell………….........Iris?"

Iris had already begun to put out the small fires that had broken out because of the spell, she was using from earlier to put out the small fire, instead of water for the sake of not damaging the books more than they already were. They had agreed earlier that since it was a student grade spell that because this placed was enchanted and the books were as well that even if he was to fire off several they wouldn't do much damage, neither expected the flame to be that size or have that much power. Iris looked over each book that was caught in the flames path, no real damage was done except a surplus amount of ash on the covers. With this knowledge she breathes a sigh of relief, then with a stern look turned to Nathan.

"Hero", what were you thinking releasing such a blast, you could have damage something or worse cause injury to yourself."

"How the heck was I supposed to know that it would be that frickin huge, you think I was trying to fire a "Vulcan Shock Ignition" or something, you said just say the name and that’s what I did.

"Well, it doesn't look like their much damage to anything, and you are also uninjured I assume?"

"Yeah, I'm good, but man this place is really sturdy, that huge of a flame and nothing got wrecked, “Amelia made this place too last, huh?"

"Still, I would rather refrain from incidents like this happening, so we'll have to avoid using any fire element spell tomes."

"Does that matter?"

"Yes, though tomes were created to be a way to cast a spell regardless of knowledge, the other benefit is that it can amplify one's own elemental affinity. Since your affinity is fire, with book in hand a student spell could be devastating."

"No, it's not."

"I'm sorry?"

"My elemental affinity is not fire, in fact I have absolutely no fire magic whatsoever."

"Then how were you able to conjure such a blaze, what is your affinity?"

"I don't know. Nothing on this screen talks about anything like what you’re saying."

"It wouldn't, your elemental affinity would be a reflection of you Legend.

"Ooooooooohhh, well then that's an even bigger problem, since it's not an element at all.

"I don't understand"

Nathan begin explaining his stats to Iris, making sure to unnecessary thing like his thievery and bribery skills. He didn't know how the hero loving fairy would react to such unheroic like abilities. He left out his unique skill as well, not that he didn't trust Iris, but after reading the description, it didn't seem like something he needed to mention, no need getting sidetracked.

"Amazing, I never read anything about the ability to control nature itself, wouldn't it be best to not use any tomes."

"What, I can't practice anymore?"

"Of course not, no matter which of the tomes you use, the results will be the same, Having the ability to manipulate nature, is the same as wielding all the elements. We might have been able to escape with minor damage this time, but no one can say what would happen if we were to try again. I rather we put off your practice for a later time."

"Well do you have any spells outside of the elements?"

“Spell for “Element Zeros”, I highly doubt it. Since there so many different Element Zeros, there is no way real way to categorize them."

"Damn, guess that's it for now, well I at least got to try it, most people....no one could say they ever done something like that, is there anything else we need here?"

"As a matter of fact, there is."(Point)

Nathan looked back at the trail of books he had thrown about in his search. With a nod he got to work re-shelving them, as did Iris.

"You know Iris, I thought you said you didn't read all of these, yet you knew where all of them were exactly."

"It's nothing special, while you slept, whenever I wasn't attending to you, i past the time here."

"Iris, you never thought of leaving?"

"Leaving?"

"Yeah, I mean if it was me I would have at least look for a way out, you must have been just a little bit curious?"

"I can't say I have, I mean I did wonder of many things, but never to a point where I would abandon my mission, beside theirs a barrier at the top of the stairs that prevents anyone from leaving or entering. All I have to do is wait.

"Until I woke up?"

"It is as you say, wants you have awakened only then shall you journey to the outside world. Those were her words, and though it has been a long time, my patience has been rewarded with your awakening. And like I said before, it is a great honor to guard the hero while he slept"

"Gonna make me blush again, but to read all these just too past the time, such bookworm.

"That's a very rude thing to say."

"No, it not an insult, I was called one as well, it means you eat books.

"Why would I ever want to consume a book?"

"Not literally, it means you like to read. Bookworm are people who read a lot, mostly just for fun, they don't actually consume a book."

"I see; I was concerned for a moment."

"What that I would start eating books, don't be ridiculo-"

"Hero is there something wrong?"

Iris took a look at what Nathan was holding, it was one of the books and it was damage. Not by the flames from earlier but what looked like something had been nibbling at it. Nathan turn the book around, it wasn't one of the books he looked at earlier, it must have fallen off the shelf when he had pulled all the books from earlier. He placed the book back down and took the one that would be next to it on the shelf. It had the same damage from the other book but a lot more extensive, this one wasn't even legible anymore. From the bite marks Nathan thought it had to be something pretty small, something like a Fairy.

"Damn Iris, I was just kidding.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You really eat books.”

"This wasn't my doing."

"No need to lie, everyone has a weird thing they do when no one's looking, is this why you don't want me to try every spell, too hide the damage books?”

"Of course not, this was not me."

"So the books were like this before you arrive?"

"All the books were and the best conditions when I first entered?"

"Then something else chewed on these books?"

"To my knowledge, there are no others here besides you and I."

"….............Look Iris, I'm not judging, if you want to eat a book, eat a book, I don’t think it’s very nutritious, and the ink probably bad for you, but hey, to each his own.

"Hero, I don't know what happen to these book, from time to time, the damage appears and I can't figure out why. But I can assure you, I DON'T CONSUME BOOKS."

“Th-thump, th-thump”

“Th-thump, th-thump”

"Huh?”

“The thought of someone defiling a book is in itself ludicrous.”

“Then there must be something here besides us."

"I don't believe so, if anything else was here I would feel it."

"What do you mean?"

"I can sense the mana flow of all things. Since every living thing has mana flowing through them, if there were any others here I would know. It's one of the many abilities of the Fae."

"Okay, then what if there was someone that could hide from you, like hide its mana from being detected, are their spells like that?"

"I suppose that could be the case, but if someone was here why would they not show themselves?"

"Maybe it was scared and too small so it keeps to the shadows, to keep attention away from itself.

"Hero, you speak as if you know the cause of the books damage."

"shhhh!"

Nathan tiptoed over to the book on the farther side of the shelf, and while being as quiet as possible, as quickly as he could he removed it.

"squeeeaak"

"What was that?"

"Take a look."

Coming closer, she peered at the creature that was nothing more than a frightened little mouse. A black nose, brown fur, floppy ear mouse gazed up at the eyes of the two larger creatures that had just the discovered it. It was much larger than any mice he’d seen before. Shivering uncontrollably as it looked up at Nathan, but he had no intention of harming it.

"Hero, how did you know it was here?"

"I heard it, I can hear really good, It's my hyper-senses ability. My senses are like on overdrive, I didn't notice it before, but when we found the book earlier the little things heart beat sped up and I could tell it was neither us since both our hearts are beating at the same pace, so by the process of elimination. And here it is, just a mouse, its cute.

"Hero you should move away, it's dangerous."

"What this little thing, how could it be dangerou-…......WHOA!

Before Nathan could finish his sentence a fireball the size of a fist came flying towards him, if not for his enhanced reflexes that allowed him to dodge he would have taken that to the face. Nathan now a few steps back looked at the mouse, face in complete shock, because it's surprise attack had failed and the larger creatures were aware it could use magic. Even with almost no distance between them the giant was able to completely avoid its spell.

"Hey, don't just suddenly shoot off spells."

The mouse was startled by Nathan sudden scolding must have forgotten that the shelf had a back, for in its haste to get away turn and crashed head first into the back of the shelf. It collapsed on its side, it's eyes spinning.

"Bwahhahahahahahahah!"

"Hero, stand back, I'll handle this."

" Heh, heh, heh, handle it, wait what are you doing?"

"Do not worry, I'll will simply end its life.

Iris took aimed, ready to incinerate the rodent.

*Thwap*

Nathan had swiftly chopped Iris on the head much to her confusion. Then as carefully as possible lifted the thing from the shelf.

"Hero, you want to take care it yourself, you need not strike me, I would gladly relinquish its demise to you."

"I'm not going to kill it, and neither are you, we don't need to."

"But, did it not just attack you, and all the damaged books?"

"Books can be replaced and as for me, I'm fine, the spell didn't even touch, you saw me dodge right, it was all like Neo. Besides, it only attacked because we scared it, plus were like fifty times its size.........well I'm am anyway, if something that big found and cornered you, wouldn't you resort to attacking, it’s basic survival instincts, nothing to be upset about…………. so could you please put away the spell?"

Iris was holding a fireball in her hand, still with every intention of using it. She reluctantly complied with Nathan and the fire fizzled away, besides she couldn’t fire the spell while Nathan was holding it.

"Well……. if you say it's fine."

"Thank you, so about this mouse, it special right or is it common for animals to use magic?"

"No, most animals that use magic are those who have become Regrest.”

“Regrest, I remember mention them back when you were reading, what are they?

“Regrest refer to creature’s who mana flow became unstable; this happens when a two different mana flow become entwined, the second mana flow attempts to take the place of the original, leading to a war between flows. The body and mind cannot handle the burden of a second mana flow and this slowly eats at the creature mind. Most would just die from the pain that follows, however if the flows are able to find a balance, the Regrest are born. However, this particular species of rodent is known as Scribe Eater."

"Scribe Eater, I see where you’re going with this, basically they eat the books and whatever book they consume they learn, so since eat ate that spell book it could utilize the spell, plus since the book itself has as much mana in them as needed for the spell, I assuming it the mana as well. They literally are what they eat.

"It is as you say, very well put."

"I'm a fast learner, so why is it not a Regrest, the mana from the books should have turned it.”

“Books to a scribe eater, is no different than if you were to drink a mana restorative drink. Your inner magic flow isn’t interrupted, just replenished.

“So it a matter of living, you can’t be too upset with it doing what it needs to survive.”

“I don’t so much hate it, as much as I dislike the sheer number of books it has chewed, not eaten mind you, but just nibble from one page and would move to another.”

It can’t be that many.”

“………….. Nearly one hundred books have been destroyed by this Rodent.”

"Iris.............your expression is scary."

As they spoke, the Scribe Eater came out of its daze and was horrified at the sight. Not only was the to larger creatures had found it now she was captured as well.

How had it come to this, when the smaller one was by itself no matter how much she looked, she never found it, but the larger one finds it with no problem. This was bad, but there was a shot at escape, while the creatures converse the mouse could leap the floor and run, with that thought the mouse got ready. Lucky for the mouse Nathan palm was wide open given the mouse plenty of room to maneuver while. And now with the ideal positioning the scribe mouse rolled over and leaped to the floor. Unknown to the mouse was Nathan quick reaction time, the second the mouse left Nathan’s hand, he instinctively reached out and caught the Scribe Eater, much to its dismay. Though the mouse did not give up and made a second attempt, but was once again captured.

Squeeeeeeeek, squeek, squeek, squeeek!?"

"Ay, ay, ay, calm down, your gonna hurt yourself."

"It looked like it was trying to get away from you."

"Yeah, I got that after it jumped the second time, I just want it to calm down so I can set it free, don’t want it knocking itself loopy again.

The Scribe Eater was way too panic; it was always the same for her. No matter where she was, those who were big and strong bullied the small and weak, the only way to survive is if you’re willing to fight. The Scribe Eater open its jaw as wide as it could and with all the strength it could muster, bit down on Nathan’s finger.

"OUCH!”

Nathan flicked his hand from the sudden bite, inadvertently tossing the Scribe Eater high into the air. With a high pitch squeal, it rose to the ceiling. Wants the Scribe Eater had reached the max height in which the toss let it rise, gravity took over and it plummeted back towards the ground.

The Scribe Eater looked on to the fast approaching ground, it wasn’t going to survive the fall.

“Why, what did I do to deserve this? It all their faults, those fucking giants, they don’t care for anything smaller than themselves, those damnable creatures, all of this is your fault, the reason I'm alone, the reason I'm trapped here, the reason I'm about to die, IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT).”

The Scribe Eater close its eyes not wanting to see, a moment later, everything stopped. The Scribe Eater was pleasantly surprise, she was sure hitting the ground, would be a much more painful experience.

"Phew, man that was close, a second later and you would have gone splat."

The Scribe Eater opened its eyes and couldn't believe it. The giant who had captured it, the one who she had bitten, had just save her. She stared up at the Nathan as he stared down. Nathan placed his hand to the floor and dump the Scribe Eater off.

"See, I'm not going to hurt you."

The Scribe eater wasn’t sure of what was going on, why was the giant behaving in such away. He must be trying to trick her. Nathan reach out with a piece of cloth, the Scribe Eater cringed at this, but it remained in place, from her experience a moment ago, if the giant wanted to catch her then he would. He wiped away the blood that remained on its face from biting him. Once he finished he reached up and grabbed the chewed on books, then set them next to the Scribe Eater who looked at the books and then back to Nathan.

"Take it, I can't use it anyway, seeing as how you already ate most of them."

The Scribe Eater stared at Nathan, this was suspicious.

"Come on, take it.

"This is a trick?”

"No trick, you can have them if you want."

“Don’t lie, I know how your kind wor……………. Wait, you can understand me!?"

"Hmn, oh, well yeah, I guess I can.

" How, No, that doesn’t matter, why are you giving them to me?"

"Like I said, the books are useless now, if we’re just going to throw them away, might as well let you have it."

"No, I mean, why aren't you upset with me, don't these belong to you?"

"Hmm, well I did want to learn, but I can't read this world's language, plus Iris already said because of my affinity no more spell casting, and it's not like you were ruining them for the heck of it, everyone's gotta eat, who am I to get upset over someone just for being hungry?"

“No, I don't believe you, you have some agenda, an ulterior motive for given me these."

“*ppffftttt*Yeah, that’s what I'm doing, plotting against a mouse."

“Well, whatever, I don't need your charity, I never except anything from a giant, I'm not even hungry.)"

*Guuuuuuuuurrrrrrgghhh~*

"…............................"

*bluuuuuussssssh*

"Ahhhaahaahahahaahahahahaha, looks like your stomach don't agree with you."

Nathan took the book from the top of the stack, sitting it in front of the Scribe Eater.

"Eat first, then you can run away or whatever you want.

The Scribe Eater reluctantly grabbed a book and begin to nibbling at it, careful not to take her eyes off Nathan. She thought he was weird, he didn’t give off the feeling as the giants before. It wasn't in unpleasant feeling, more like what she felt from Lady Amelia, yet she still didn't trust him, no matter what kind of feeling she had, nothing would cause her to let down her guard, though Nathan held no ill will.

Nathan was just interested in the Scribe Eater itself, beside from Iris, this was the only other living creature he had come in contact with. Now that he thinks about it, he had not heard Iris say anything for a while now and as if on cue, he felt an aura that sent shivers through his body

"…...................Actually, I take that back, you should runaway, Right Now."

" Why?"

No sooner did the Scribe Eater speak did she see what was wrong, she nearly soiled herself from fear.

"Unforgivable, how dare you, to turn down the Hero's generosity, even after you had the audacity to harm him.

Nathan looked down to the Scribe Eater.

"….................Seriously, RUN."

"Squeeeeeeeeeekkkk!"

"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE, YOUR DEATH SHALL BE SLOW AND ahh, Hero what are you doing, release me."

While Nathan held down Iris, the Scribe Eater with a book in tow, ran for as fast as it 's legs could carry it, looking back she watched as Nathan try his best to keep Iris restrained. Her eyes met Nathan and he just smiled and waved to her with his free hand.

The Scribe Eater raced down the hall and disappeared from sight, she stopped when she felt she was safe again.

"RODENT, I SHALL FIND YOU, AND WHEN I DO, I WILL END YOU."

"Iris, you sound like a villain".

With that the Scribe Eater ran down the hall once again, leaving the area and the weird giants alone.