LSRO: Chapter 41 - Assistance (Patreon)

OKay so

We're getting into super rough draft territory. Things could change, but I'm about 90% certain I'm keeping them this way lol

Because I really like this one.

~~

Chapter 41

Assistance

It took several seconds for Quinn to comprehend what appeared in front of her. The sheer magnitude of this gathering of beings. Of course she'd been expecting applicants, but this variety of species were all so fantastical. She utilized the library's system to identify them.

First, she looked over a group of three huddled spider people. They appeared to have the body of a spider and four legs that touched the ground. Their torsos, however, had four arms. Their upper bodies were segmented slightly like ants, and their heads appeared to be a mixture of ant and human.

Aracnios - Arachnid-based species

Located in the: Illukai Region

Library Allies for: 24, 382 years

Quinn blinked at the information. That was a long time to be allied with the Library. She knew Lynx said it was infinite, but she hadn't really understood the ramifications of that.

She shook her head and switched her focus, trying to get through this as fast as possible.

They were four centaurs. She recognised those. They had horse bottoms and a human-appearing top. They looked a lot more built and stocky in their human portion than she would have thought. Very powerful. Their hooves didn't even make a sound as they jiggled slightly in place.

Centaur - Equine based species

Located in the: Malino Sector

Library Allies for: Since Library Creation

Quinn realized she needed to grab a map or a guide to take her through the sectors so she could understand what the locations meant.

Next were the tiny ones. There were four of them, standing about three to four feet high. They looked like mini humans. All she wanted to do was lift them up and hug them, but she was pretty sure that would end up with her being punched in the face.

Ilgonomo - humanoid species

Located in the Dalyid Region

Allies of the Library for: 235,001 years

Her next inspection simply read:

Imp

Gates of Halschius

Number 7

Time immeasurable

She did a double take. This read out was nothing like the others. Why the discrepancy?

Imps are a separate classification. Their ilk stems from old world gods and mythology given form. They are creatures of and in magic.

She took that at face value and mulled it over. Okay, magical creatures that were likely a product of the Library or...

Imps are the direct result of unrestrained chaotic magic gone wrong. The Library helped them become a viable species.

Guess that answered her question then. Imps were also tiny, a little bit shorter than the Ilgonomo, but they had wings, fiery red eyes, and skin that was tinted red and black. Like a mixture of embers and ash. They had little horns that grew out of their head and sharp, pointy ears. Their fangs resembled vampires, and she was very certain that she would never like to be bitten by one of them. They darted to and fro and then back into a huddle together. They were oddly, dangerously, adorable in appearance.

Then there was a group of what had to be fae, fairies. They were colorful and simply breathtaking. Their little wings fluttered so fast they almost appeared to stand still.

Furionas - Fae elf species

Travelled from: Dimensional Portal L25

Ally status: 2,483,000 years

Quinn blinked at the information. What the hell did Dimensional Portal L25 mean. She waited for a few seconds, but when nothing popped up in front of her from the Library, she simply moved on. She'd figure out location nuances later.

What did matter was that these fantastical creatures were hovering right in front of her, applying to be library assistants. She glanced over and noticed that Lynx had a smile spread over his face at the sight of all of the applicants standing in the hall. She felt far more equipped to deal with the influx of applicants now she'd taken a few minutes to familiarize herself with all the different species.

"Welcome," Lynx said, his voice booming through the hall. All of the fidgeting and talking amongst themselves stopped, and everybody looked up at where Lynx stood on top of the check-in desk.

"I am Lynx, the library's manifestation. This," he pulled Quinn up by the hand to stand next to him with strength that she didn't know he could access, "is Quinn. She is your librarian, and technically your boss, if you become an assistant to the library."

There was a low murmuring, and she swore she could hear the word 'human' thrown around a couple of times.

Quinn did her best to smile and appear welcoming, even though she was nervous as hell. She glanced over at Lynx, unsure of what she should say.

"Just do what you would at a normal job interview," he suggested, his tone soft and encouraging.

"I've never given job interviews before, except the one I gave to Narilin," she retorted, a speech she was getting quite used to over the last couple of days. There was so much she'd never done before.

Still, he was right.

With a very soft hoot, Aradie came and sat on her shoulder. Quinn immediately felt just that little bit less lonely. She kept her smile up and clapped her hands to gather the attention of the still-murmuring crowd beneath her.

"Everyone, if you could please come forward. Malachi and I will take your applications and we will get you sorted as soon as possible."

There, she thought, that sounded pretty grown up, even if the entire group was eyeing her and then eyeing the elf who begrudgingly stood up out of his sofa seat, and then looked back at Lynx as if he was the one in charge of everything. Which, technically he kind of was, but for some obscure reason, the whole set up meant she was actually in charge of most of the stuff.

Quinn snapped her fingers. "Hey, Lynx has a lot of work to do, so I'm in charge of you right now and you'll be working with me if your application is accepted, so frankly, you just kind of need to deal with that."

This time, there was some murmuring, but a lot of nods, and even some resigned sighs.

The very first person to come up to her was one of the Fae. She was maybe two and a half feet tall and hovered in the air like a hummingbird. Her coloring was beautiful. She had long, literally golden hair and skin that was faintly golden-tinged as well. Her tiny feet ended in points with little shoes on and her wings had iridescent rainbow colors running through them. She wore a striking deep red dress that offset the whole thing.

"Hello," she said, and her voice sounded soprano. It was high-pitched but very polite. "I am Geneva and I would like to apply. Here is my paper."

She spoke very haltingly and Quinn wondered if that had to do with the way words translated to her from other species.

"Thank you." Quinn took the application from her tiny hands and glanced through it. The letters jumbled for a second before they settled in front of her eyes and she realized that the library enabled her to even read the writing or the text of other species. It was definitely handy being connected to the core. Note to self to explore the connection more when I actually get a moment to myself.

Quinn placed her hand on the application and absorbed the information like she had for Narilin. It flooded her mind. Geneva was a little older than the other assistant at 321. She was in the top 5% of her graduating class, female, and had 12 of the outlined 16 requirements, so nine more than they absolutely had to have.

That was a pretty good catch.

"What reason do you have for wanting to be a library assistant?" Quinn asked. And she heard Malakai echoing that question over in the other corner. She was fairly confident he could filter through some of the other applicants.

Geneva cocked her head to one side, her pretty wings fluttering rapidly. "Books and magic, it's why we exist. We are a part of magic and only function through magic. If I help filter the chaos, then I will help my species and the rest of the universe."

Her voice was so lilting, very hesitant, but she seemed just lovely and tiny and very slight and Quinn wasn't sure at all if she'd even be able to lift up one of the tomes. Information flashed across her screen for just a second, enough to tell her that this species was 100% capable of carrying three or four massive tomes. Quinn felt like she'd been a little bit judgy, which made her feel guilty.

There was an underlying nervousness to this small fey creature and Quinn probed that nervousness as much as she could with her mind and sent an inquiry to the library about it. After several seconds, the library flashed up.

Nerves, heart rate elevated. Excitement spread. Applicant earnest. No deception detected.

Didn't know it could do that, she thought to herself.

Lynx shot back, You didn't ask.

Will you get out of my head? She flashed him a brief glare.

When you've learned your mental exercises from Milaro, you will be able to keep me out of your head when you want, he retorted.

Quinn sighed and thought of ten thousand things to say.

I'm not trying to listen, Quinn, you just think very loudly Lynx said, which made Quinn almost laugh out loud.

"Is there anything else you'd like to add?" Quinn asked her fluttering little applicant. It was amazing how much could be exchanged in the blink of an eye when communicating mind to mind.

Geneva hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes, knowledge, magic, it's all very important. I would like to have access to it and help preserve it all."

Quinn smiled. "I understand. Go take a seat over there." And she pointed over to where she'd been sitting earlier with the others.

Dottie raised herself on her back legs and jumped around, waving her little arms in ways that shouldn't have been possible if she really was made out of wood. There was a flicker of surprise that passed over Geneva's face before she shut it down. Quinn flashed her a grin.

"Go sit with Dottie for a bit, okay?" And Quinn turned to the next applicant.

After Geneva, Quinn interviewed a Centaur, an Aracnio, and then, finally, it was an Imp's turn.

So far, she'd found one possibility in Geneva and definitely the Aracnio even though she was terribly confused by the way the other species moved. He'd seemed highly motivated and she hadn't even attempted to pronounce his name. She'd call him Steve in her head. Steve would work.

The imp was, quite simply put, fascinating. With blackened skin and what looked like fiery embers at the end of the fingertips and toes. The imp had sharp teeth and fiery eyes. Even the long black hair was tinged with what looked like a never-ending flame-fall. Quinn was beguiled.

"Your name?" she asked.

At first, there was a guttural response, and Quinn couldn't quite grasp the words.

Then the imp coughed and spoke. "My name is Ekirusca Marabiza, but most people just call me Eric."

Quinn did a double-take, blinked a couple of times, and said, "Excellent, Eric it is then."

"I am he," he clarified. Which was good because Quinn could not tell. It was always good to know how to refer to somebody.

"Okay, then Eric." She placed her left palm on his application and realized that the imp was several thousand years old. 7,682 years to be precise. She could feel the color drain from her face. He was a powerful being if his resume was anything to go by. He was in the top percentage of his power class and could rain down brimstone and fire on any future attacks on the library. Oh, how she wanted to ask him how they knew the library had been sabotaged. Then again, maybe it was obvious from those outside.

"Why would you like to work in the library?" she asked.

"I was sent here by our Lord who commanded us to come and lend aid to the library as is written in our accords that are as old as time," Eric replied his facial features not even budging a fraction.

Quinn blinked. "Your Lord sent you here to work then?"

"Yes. I am fully aware that I will be compensated in my species' currency and that I will have somewhere to stay so that I might render assistance." Again, his face was stoic.

"Excellent. And do you have any personal reasons for wanting to be here?" She pushed the question a bit. Her gut instinct told her that whoever worked here needed to want to work here for their own reasons. For their own attachment.

"The library has been a part of my life for millennia. While it was gone, I did not get to visit or absorb magic or knowledge in the same way as I had become accustomed to, and I would like to rectify that and prevent such an occurrence from ever happening again." This time the little imp had cocked his head to one side, like he was truly analyzing the question.

Quinn nodded completely and utterly happy with the answer. "Great! Go sit over there with that fae." He glanced over to where Dottie was chatting animatedly with the fairy, and a grimace crossed his face.

"She won't bite, I promise." Quinn hurried to reassure him.

Eric flashed her a grin. "She won't, but maybe I will," and he darted off before Quinn could say another word.

She looked around for Lynx, but he wasn't there, and yet his voice echoed in her head. Yeah, you gotta watch the imps. They can be a little more mischievous than I think you're ready for.

Gee, thanks for the warning. Could have used that five minutes ago, she responded.

No need to snap at me. Maybe if you pulled up more information through your interface, you'd understand more before you spoke to them.

Quinn didn't retort because she knew he was right, and she didn't want to admit that right then. She glanced around and heard a clearing of a throat beneath her. She looked down.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said. Most of the others had been tall enough to talk with her on the desk or at least had wings with which they could fly up to her on the desk. The Ilganomur, however, was not.

So Quinn jumped down. "Hi, I'm Quinn," and she decided that the Ilgonomur definitely looked like the gnomes she'd met in computer games. Small, petite, and with huge eyes that just seemed to see everything. She took the application that was offered without a word and placed her hand on it. This Ilgonomur was known as Finn, short for Findalay. So, Finn it was. It rhymed with her name, so Quinn was already partial to it.

Finn graduated in the top 5% of their class, and was a little over 200 years old. That made them one of the youngest applicants that she'd seen so far, and had specific experience in working in the Ilgonomur main branch library.

Quinn looked at Finn. "So, what makes you want to be here?"

Farrah cocked their head to one side. "I love knowledge, and I love books, and those are the only reasons why I want to be here."

Quinn decided that was the best reason she had heard yet.

Lynx rematerialized next to her as she watched the applicants they’d chosen settle in. Eight in all.

That’s more than we needed, he spoke into her head in a satisfied tone.

She nodded as the list popped up in front of her:

The following have been completed. Please see the adjusted requirement.

• Complete the Library reshelving
• Complete the Bookworm habitat rejuvenation
• Activate the book restoration workshop
• Assign combat instructor to Librarian
• Increase Librarian defensive and combat power by 5
• Recruit a minimum of five (5) assistants through a universal call out with requisite minimum qualifications as specified in the manual

Assistant training and quarters allocation must be completed prior to opening.

Lynx flickered in a concerning manner, his form winking in and out, his mouth moved but no words came out.

Error

Lynx A352 - Error detected

Core connection required to avoid imminent meltdown.

~~

TADAAAAAAA