Chapter 245 - Odd signs
The final room in the Veiled Library wasn’t anywhere near as vast as the main chamber, but it still held an imposing presence. Its design echoed that of the main chamber with rows of stone shelves, but the aisles were wider, and the eerie librarians were conspicuously absent.
Instead, however, there was a lone, towering figure in front of them, commanding their immediate attention. Dressed in grey robes similar to those of the librarians, it was significantly taller and had a gangly build. A hood obscured its face in shadow, and its robes concealed its limbs, but its presence didn’t feel quite as ephemeral as the librarians’.
Fynn squinted, scrutinising the figure. “This one is different from the others.”
“Yeah, I think we got that,” Rosa said with a hint of sarcasm. Meanwhile, Allyssa and Shin readied themselves for another potential conflict, their stances tense. The figure remained motionless, gazing into empty air.
Next to Scarlett, Yamina seemed deep in thought. “I believe this may be the entity that oversaw those librarians. Unlike them, I can detect a faint flow of mana from it, though it is rather…peculiar.”
“It’s not alive.” Fynn frowned slightly. “...I think.”
“So it’s like one of those undead Zuver we’ve encountered before?” Allyssa asked.
Fynn shook his head. “No. Those smell different.”
“Then what is it?”
“It might be that this is supposed to be the custodian of this library,” Yamina suggested, pulling out her spellbook. She cast a series of diagnostic spells, her brows furrowing in concentration. “Its nature is unlike any construct known to me, but I cannot discern what else it might be.”
Allyssa, holding a vial with a radiant silver liquid inside, eyed the ‘custodian’. “Could it be like one of those infused Auranthials used by the Followers?”
“I do not think the comparison is that straightforward,” Yamina said.