Before departing, we made our way to the library. The walk was a muffled crunch of snow but enjoyable, no matter how strenuous. I was unfamiliar with the terrain, and without the right shoes my feet, for all the warmth my cloak provided, were still cold. I was surprised I wasn't outright frozen-toed.

"Why the library?" I looked at John.

"Easiest place to find food. The buildings that have their roofs caved in; that have snow coming in especially the ones with as many hiding spots as the library, usually have a lot of small game running around." As he spoke, a bow and arrow formed of pinkish-purple energy seemed to just appear in his hands. I didn't comment on it, and neither did he. There was a small understanding that we would both be capable of things due to our [Powers] and this was normal.

With a better understanding of my own [Powers], I held off on using them.

The library, unlike most of the buildings, looked better in the snow. It had a presence about it that was nothing but the architecture and environment. It was only two stories, which was understandable for a small town, but the snow covered it like a scholar's cloak. The entrance looked like it might've been glass once upon a time. A ruined metal mesh, probably in place for security reasons, was busted open and gave us a way in.

John ducked into the building and I followed him. I spotted small animal footprints all over the place.

There was a receptionist desk, a book drop-off, a book swap shelf, standard stuff I'd've found in my own library. Although, this library was much more modern. I ran my hand across the counter and found an unruined pamphlet. Events and such were listed out, book clubs among them.

"City of Corona." I read aloud. "Crown City." I looked around.

John looked at me. "Yeah, this one and those other ruins we saw from the bell tower are all Corona." He said. "Come on. We'll have a better view from the second floor." John spoke. A small chittering echoed from somewhere in the library. John nodded. "That way. Gibber's found some." He pointed.

The library was quiet. Perhaps in the muffled silence of the snow, this was one of the only places that embraced the ambiance. The elevators were broken, so John and I took the stairs. Most of the glass that lined the railings was intact, and from that, I could almost see the library as it was.

We ascended to the second floor to be greeted with a view of the first. It turned out the library was just one huge circle. We had entered from the outer edge and made our way inward to the middle. It was why, until now, I hadn't seen the bookcases.

The middle of the second floor was an open view of the first. Glass railways used to prevent people from falling off but they were long gone. The metal railing that framed said glass, however, was mostly still in place.

In the past, there must've been a large skylight that let sunlight flow in. Now, snow drifted in undisturbed, steadily and inevitably. The entire first floor was buried in snow. Bookshelves that must've been three times my height were partly buried, the snow coming up to half their height. Books lay across the snow, paper, and pages torn.

It was surreal.

John had drawn his bowstring all the way up to his cheek, eyeing something darting around among the books. It had papers in its mouth and suddenly I realized all the small animals here had access to perfect bedding for their nests. That was a bunny, or rabbit, the same kind I had seen yesterday killed by a fox.

He released his fingers and the bow twanged, only for a fleshy thump to immediately follow. The bunny's momentum carried the limp body across the snow and it bumped unceremoniously into a bookshelf. He gave a thumbs up to something above. I spotted the reason John had found game so fast - a little red squirrel scurrying high on the bookshelves.

I didn't anticipate really needing my [Powers] in the next few minutes so I used them.

Weapon: [Wrist Crossbow]

A small high-powered crossbow attached to the wrist. With semi-auto capability, the crossbow reloads itself as long as it has ammo. Each bolt has enough penetrative power to push through weak leather.

Buff: [Minor Treasure Sense]

You are able to discern, vaguely, the direction of valuables. Gold, riches, and goods, nothing can escape your notice. The range of this sense is minimal.

Favorable Armor: [Cozy Boots]!

Woolen boots that protect the feet. Crafted with immense attention to detail, these boots offer the comfiest of steps. In cold rough terrain, this footwear feels like walking on the softest, fluffiest of carpets.

There were a few things to address. First, the shoes that I had been wearing; they had just disappeared, leaving me wearing only these [Cozy Boots]. Second, perhaps more importantly, they did indeed feel like walking on warm carpet. My feet for the first time felt warm. And third, there was a sensation that pulled my gaze to the bookshelves here on the second floor.

Those were the most apparent and pressing details. It looked like my [Power] would replace anything on me, at least briefly, if it was in the way. Hopefully, my shoes would come back. I knew that even if it was a similar item of clothing it wouldn't automatically cause my clothes to disappear. I had been wearing a shirt, a jacket, and the [Cloak of the Frozen Icicle] and that [Leather Jerkin], and the [Padded Vest] and [Scholar's Robe] for that matter, had just slipped in between the layers where they were most comfortable.

Even the [Wrist Crossbow] found itself comfortably on my wrist, under the sleeves of my cloak. It was attached over my jacket's sleeve.

"Cool." John broke in. Looking at the weapon. He didn't question where it came from, or how I got it, but I doubt he saw the shamrock mist that accompanied its arrival; it had formed under my clothes. "See where Gibber's pointing?"

I did. The little squirrel was looking downwards from the second floor to the first. He was indicating a particular aisle if his pointed stance was any indication. But I stopped myself. "Hold on, John. Follow me, real quick." I said, looking to our left.

He shrugged, looking at me curiously, before signaling to Gibber.

We moved between bookshelves. The ones up here weren't under the open roof so there wasn't too much snow. Frost, however, did cover almost everything. The spine of every book along the shelves were covered in ice. The rustic wood fared no better but held strong against the elements.

None of that was what drew me here. My hand ran across the books, searching. My eyes did the same. But it was another sense altogether that made one such book stand out. [Minor Treasure Sense] did.

I pulled it out from its spot. It was near the end of the shelf, high enough that I had to step on the bookcase to pluck it out. It was covered in frost, more so than any other work here.

It was fundamentally different from any book I had ever seen. It was a deep blue like the ocean, its spine was ornate, adorned with embellishes and swirls. For all that one might think it'd look gaudy, instead, it looked ancient, cared for. It didn't appear at all similar to anything nearby. I wondered how it took me so long to find it.

In my hands, I felt a power pulse from it, icy cold. The shock nearly made me drop it.

This time, I recognized the [System Message] for what it was.

Rare Skillbook: [Ice Mastery]

The cold elements bend to your will. Shaping frozen magics become easier, second nature. Magics pertaining to the element of ice become colder and more intense. Your innate understanding of the cold becomes sharper and easier to grasp.

John, similarly, stared at the book. "Holy hell. Something like this exists?" He whispered. "I've been through this library a dozen times. I had never even thought to check the shelves."

"A [Skillbook]." I muttered to myself. "Any idea what this is, John?"

An idea occurred to me. I summoned my Slate. It was the first time I'd thought to use it. A deck of transparent cards appeared in my hand, and I drew from the top of it. As I pulled it closer to view, no writing scrawled itself across the card. No information made itself clear to me. The card was blank. No dice then, but it was worth a shot.

"I'm unfamiliar with the term, but I can guess. Maybe it's a way to learn [Ice Mastery]? That seems like a [Power] though." He hummed. "And what does that [Rare] mean? In any case, you might have hit upon something valuable there, Vak."

"I saw some ice-related powers in the [System Shop]. Now that I think about it I'm almost certain there was an [Ice Mage] [Class]." I said. "Though, I don't think learning [Ice Mastery] would do us much good, seeing as neither of us has been playing with ice." I looked at John and he nodded in confirmation, apparent trust in the gesture.

"Keep it close for now. It sounds valuable, especially if the [System] recognizes it. At the very least, it's not a normal book." He said with thought. "And maybe you don't need to know any magic to begin with. [Ice Mastery] sounds like it might help you get started."

I thought about that for a bit. My thinking was that [Ice Mastery] might enhance what was already there. John was proposing it would help someone get started learning to mess around with the element. The description did imply it might facilitate faster learning.

John perked his ear when Gibber's chatter echoed over to us. "I'm gonna go grab lunch. Currently, it's lying dead in the snow waiting for me to come get it." He reminded me. "I'll be right back. Stay close."

"Alright." I responded. "I'm gonna look through these shelves again." He nodded at that.

He trekked towards the stairs which left me with my thoughts and the book.

[Minor Treasure Sense] detected valuables. What made something valuable? Usefulness, importance, scarcity. In game theory, the player was assumed to choose the option that most benefited him. Sometimes this entailed attaining a limited resource.

"Limited resource..." I stared at the book. Could it be one? "Possibly. It was considered [Rare] after all. And I guess to use a [Skillbook], well, you'd probably just have to read it. But that didn't make sense; it didn't seem right that everyone could just take turns reading the book and have everyone learn [Ice Mastery]. It couldn't have been that easy."

By now my [Powers] had worn off. I tucked the [Skillbook] into my jacket pocket, the large pouch was surprisingly useful in my circumstances for some reason. My shoes had returned to me, and I let out a sigh of relief as my attention was drawn back to the book.

I walked a small distance to check another section of the floor.

I perused the shelves, I doubted I would find another one. I was simply browsing the actual books displayed. "Was it maybe a one-time deal, like [Gift] was? A one-use thing? Or maybe the material is so hard to understand not everyone could learn it. Either of those would make sense. Was it both?"

I decided not to read it for now. I had no idea how it worked, it was, after all, some kind of magical book. The library, no matter how seemingly serene, wasn't a safe place to sit down and read, ironic as that was. It wasn't too pressing either, I didn't have anything in my toolbox relating to ice.

"And even though ice is cool and all, I guess I'm not really particularly inclined towards it." I felt at the book. "Seems like difficult reading material in any case, if the thickness tells me anything." I said.

Despite the propensity to talk to myself, my voice was only a whisper.

That was why I heard the chuff so clearly, no matter how quiet it was.

I froze, turning up and down the aisle. Nothing. I heard it move, crunching snow. Carefully, I peered through the bookshelves and saw something moving. Pulling a book out of its place, I peeked through the frost-covered rustic shelving and into the aisle beside me. I saw something white moving left, just barely enough time to see thick arms. It was either crouching low or on all fours.

I walked, quietly as I could, in the opposite direction, fully intending to get away as fast as possible.

I turned a corner, surrounded by books, and found a dead end. My breath stopped, realizing my circumstance. Quickly, I peeked back around and caught it sniffing at the ground.

It was in my aisle.

It was a humanoid, white-furred, it could have been an ape. But its face was all wrong, too flat, too ugly to be recognized as anything close to that. It had pointed ears and hunched over on its knuckles. If that wasn't enough - it was bigger than I was.

My hand slipped on the frost-covered bookcase.

The small sound was enough, its ears twitched. Its head perked up, but I had already pulled my head back, eyes wide. I could hear its footsteps on the library floor.

Shit. I planted my foot on the bookshelf. The slick shelves were treacherous while covered in ice. I couldn't bother to care. Adrenaline poured through me and I was acutely aware of every sound I made and didn't. My frantic climb was only seconds.

The shelves went up to the roof here, I couldn't cross into another aisle.

Weapon: [Air Blade]

An invisible blade weighing less than anything similar. Its edge is razor-sharp, able to slice clean through mundane armors. The blade is useless against anything that can withstand its edge due to its lack of mass.

Armor: [Spiked Pauldrons]

A set of steel pauldrons. A piece of a set. This shoulder armor is dense and able to withstand a direct, purposeful strike. Presenting your shoulder at the enemy would do much to dissuade an attack.

Buff: [Stage Whisper]

Your voice is heard only by those you want it to be heard by within a small range.

It lumbered around the corner below me.

My muscles burned with the effort of holding myself stable pressed up against the bookshelf. The [Spiked Pauldrons] settled heavily across my shoulder and it only added weight to my predicament, I felt the added mass acutely. The [Air Blade] came attached to my hip, sheathed.

My hands found a better grip deeper within the bookcase. There weren't as many books higher up on the shelves, so I had the opportunity to find a better handhold. I managed to do so without making a sound.

I was a good distance above it, but my I held my breath, hoping it wouldn't look up. The thing was smelling exactly where I had been standing.

I pulled a book off a shelf. I needed to lure it away. I threw the book around the corner, releasing it without a sound, and sighed as I watched the creature's attention shift as the book landed with the frenetic flapping of pages only a book could.

"Vak, is that you?" My blood ran cold. He couldn't have been a bookshelf away; the next aisle maybe.

The white-furred thing's pointed ears immediately perked up. Its head tiled towards John's voice and I followed its lead. It looked through the shelf as if it was window shopping, trying to get a better angle at John.

And yes, I could see him there. The angle my view afforded me let me see through the less populated levels of the bookcase. John was right there. I could only make out parts of him, but it was him, right across from us. And the snowy creature was staring at him too, trying to get a better look. Tracking him.

I breathed hard. I hoped to god [Stage Whisper] would work.

"John, you're in danger. Don't freak out, there's a creature right across from you. Right through the bookshelf. It sees you. It's close to pouncing, be ready to move." I spoke, but my words didn't reach my own ears.

I saw John stiffen, but I could just make out a transparent purple flash of color.

The creature tensed immediately at whatever John had just done.

Every scenario ran through my mind. I didn't doubt for a moment the creature below couldn't break through the bookshelf and be upon John in moments. From the way its legs flexed, I doubted it did either. Possibilities ran through my mind, and one way or another I'd need to be down there to help John.

Before I could even think about it, I was screaming, falling downward by the shoulder. My [Cloak of the Frozen Icicle] fluttering behind me. My [Spiked Pauldrons] lead the way down.

The creature screamed, knocked to the floor as I landed awkwardly on top of it. My [Spiked Pauldrons] had ripped into its whole right flank. It roared, the sound felt like it belonged in the jungle. I snapped back to the moment and just dug in, pushing the creature into the bookcase, as it tried to stand, off-balance.

It screamed before finally realizing its size advantage. It leveraged itself and shoved me to the floor, hard.

"Vak? Vak! Go around! Meet me at the end of the aisle!"

But I had already wasted too much time. I scrambled to my feet at the same time the creature got its bearings. It looked at me.

I ran, scrambling across the floor. The creature bounded across the floor with a hunter's instinct. It pushed against the bookshelves and books fell all around us as the shelving wobbled. It lunged at me. My retreat was haphazard, dodging now and then, desperately darting forward and away from its arms. I ducked under a heavy swing and realized it was trying to grab me.

I thrusted my [Air Blade] outward not even being able to see it. Aside from a shimmer of air, it looked like I had just pointed the hilt of a blade at the creature. I took a finger off of the thing and it roared, bashing me against the shelf with the back of its swinging arm. I slammed against the wall so hard it felt like I had hit cement. The uneven spines of the book and lining of the shelf ensured I'd bruise.

I didn't make it to the end of the aisle.

It grabbed me by the neck and I tried my best to turn my shoulder towards it. It cut its hand on the [Spiked Pauldron] but only sneered, its teeth sharper than anything I've ever seen. I thought it was going to bite into me, but instead, it squeezed.

I screamed as the pain of having my spinal cord snapped crept up on me. I slashed at it with the [Air Blade] and managed to carve a chunk of its flesh off. The pressure on my spine released itself, and I thought I had actually hit something important and killed it.

No. John had barreled into the creature with a shield made of transparent pinkish-purple light. His face was a snarl. "Vak! Get behind me!" The bloodstained creature roared in rage but John was pressed up against it, stabbing its side with a knife fashioned of the same light. He didn't let up and blood splattered the entire bookcase. "Gibber! Where are you?" He yelled loudly.

I said something back, but I could barely hear myself.

I didn't get behind him. That thing had almost killed me. I propped myself unsteadily against the bookcase. I could barely keep my balance, the pain was too fresh in my neck. But that didn't matter, I only needed to get the general direction right.

I didn't know if John could've killed it himself, it did seem like he had the upper hand. And he had been living here for a month, so the man might've been a lot more capable than he let on. I wobbled, watching John soar past me.

But no, John, like me, was just a regular guy. He hit the bookshelf with a painful grunt. It roared in triumph. It reared upwards and beat its chest, something like hissing coming from its mouth.

But I had already oriented myself. By the time John was sent flying into the bookshelf, I was already charging, screaming obscenities. It didn't seem to notice, so consumed in its fight - in its triumph.

The spikes of my pauldron caught it right in the neck. My invisible blade slid into its heart.

"Die bastard!"