Chapter 20

Wil soared in the air atop his new companion, the Clockwork Owl, affectionately named ‘Bitey’. Each flap of its massive, metallic wings sent it gliding forward, much faster than Wil had ever experienced before. Even the Drake, with its three masts under full sail would be slow in comparison.

He watched in amazement as the miles passed below, the landscape shifting every few minutes. A kaleidoscope of biomes, barely seen before they were replaced with another.

So large was the owl he stood on top of, that it could glide for minutes at a time between flaps of its immense wings. It was useful for conserving its energy, drawn from the ambient mana around it.

Apart from the first spark of magic Wil gifted it, the owl could operate indefinitely in this ‘inner realm’ due to the denseness of the ambient mana here. In the outside world, Wil estimated that he would be completely drained of mana from the flying Owl in only a few hours.

Wil had his companion fly closer to the ground, just drifting over the forests and hills below. Partially due to his unfamiliarity with being so high in the air, but mostly it was his wariness of the strange sky.

The candle flame sun and silver coin moon were disconcerting, and the black void overhead made him not want to test the limits of flight. There would be plenty of time to fly when they got back to the real world. If they survived this mad endeavor.

Wil had pleasant surprise riding the owl when he discovered its innate ability to block the wind from pushing against him. When it had first taken off, Wil had a death grip on its metallic feathers, expecting to be knocked away as it picked up speed. It hadn’t happened, some barrier existed around the clockwork owl, protecting him from not only the wind, but also from feeling the force of its sudden acceleration.

Enjoying the flight, Wil leaned back and enjoyed the view as the Owl glided unerringly towards the next source of corruption, quickly gaining on the distant target.

In what felt like only minutes, Wil saw a structure come into view in the distance. A massive, white marble spire, similar to the Mage Guild Spire in Aachen. But this one was much taller, soaring so far into the sky that it caused Wil to misjudge the distance, thinking that he was closer than he first thought.

It took nearly a half an hour longer to gain on the structure, the white spire dominating the skyline the entire time.

Unlike a regular tower, the White Spire in front of him twisted clockwise slightly as it climbed, rather than a sheer and smooth surface. It was like a square structure turned, warped, and spun as it grew. He could make out a multitude of stained-glass windows covering the spire, creating a rainbow of colors in the sunlight.

The Clockwork Owl quickly closed the distance, rushing across a well-maintained, green lawn, with rows of hedges and a white stone path that led to the front entrance. With a screech, the owl stopped its descent, hovering for a moment, before settling on the ground.

Leaping off his mounts back, he patted it on the head gently, before snatching his hand back as the bird tried to take another bite out of him. Not able to catch his hand, the owl shrank in size before leaping back into the air, exploring the area outside while waiting for Wil to call for it.

Muttering curses at the bird, Wil drew his sword as he walked down the stone path towards the White Spire.

The path was well cared for, no dust or dirt covered the stones, and the lawn was lush and green, but trimmed short. Even the hedges were perfectly uniform rectangles, not a single leaf out of place.

The soles of leather shoes rang out against the stones as the spire loomed overhead. The white stone was marbled, streaked with a greyish, silvery substance, branching out all over the structure. Focusing on the stones, he couldn’t feel any mana from them, nor could he sense any corruption in the structure itself, just a hazy sense that it was deep within.

The entrance was under a large arch, big enough that a dozen people could easily walk side by side as they entered. The closed door was made of wood, unpainted or stained, the natural grain a deep black color.

Cautiously stepping forward, Wil touched a hand against the doorway, feeling the smooth wood.

“Ebony.” Wil whispered, identifying the rare wood. He hadn’t seen it used except in the deep south of Illyria, and even then, only in the most expensive homes of the nobility.

His family’s manor had several pieces of Ebony furniture, passed down through generations. He had never heard of it being used for a door, let alone one this size. The black wood was easily worth its weight in gold, and the spire’s doorway used enough wood to build a thousand pieces of furniture. The wealth on display here would beggar the Illyrian Emperor to duplicate.

Shaking his head at the opulence shown, he pushed gently against the heavy door. Well balanced, the door effortless pushed open, giving Wil an excellent view of the interior.

If he was shocked at the expensive door, then the interior of the Spire was enough to knock him flat. The floor and walls of the Spire was also made of white marble, but nearly every surface inside was covered in bookshelves. Piles of books and parchment littered the floor. Every book Wil had ever seen could fit in a small section of the library in front of him.

“Forget the ebony door, this is the true treasure.” Wil whispered into the silent spire. A priceless collection lay before him, in both knowledge and material wealth. If the door could beggar an emperor, then this collection could beggar an Empire.

Walking inside, he felt the cool, dry air brush against his skin. The familiar scent of old parchment and musty tomes filled the air. The first floor stretched for almost a mile in diameter, with a ceiling dozens of feet high. The white marble ceiling was unbroken, save for a winding staircase that started on Wil’s left, spiraling around the perimeter of the room, before leading to the next level.

On this floor alone, there was hundreds of thousands of books, more than he had ever seen before in one place. The library in the Academy was famous in Illyria for having the most knowledge contained in one location. Even the Mage’s Guild, with all their resources, could only come second to it.

This Spire had more on this single level than both libraries combined, and even then, he suspected it wouldn’t even be a close contest.

Slowly walking around, he idly checked the titles of the books, all while keeping an eye out for the corruption. He could feel the infection present here, in this building, but he couldn’t pin it down.

The infected Dragon Turtle he had just defeated had been easy to spot, it was like a blazing sun of corruption to guide him. This Spire was more elusive, it seemed to be present everywhere, but he couldn’t see it.

Standing in the center of the massive room, he took in everything around him, but it was useless, there was nothing here aside from the library.

“Maybe its on another level…” Wil wondered, reluctantly leaving the books behind as he went to the staircase.

The next level was like the one before, the layout the same, and filled with just as many books, although this one seemed less tidy. More stacks were on the floor, rather than arranged tidily on the shelves.

The next level was the same, white marble floor and ceiling, thousands of bookshelves, but this level was in even more disorder. Most of the books were not on shelves, or even stacked piles, this level’s books were thrown haphazardly around, scattered piles, some taller than Wil.

While searching the floors, Wil kept a rough track of the topics the books covered. History, runes, magic spells, famous explorers, geography were just a small handful. He even found books in other languages, with handy translations on the margins.

Given enough time, Wil could obtain unsurpassed knowledge here, in this library. Any topic, anything he had ever wanted to learn, could be obtained here.

Before he knew it, he had started a collection, piling books in his arms. He had tried to keep them in his Bag of Holding, but the item wouldn’t open, not in this library. Something blocked it from opening, some security measure or trick of the Spire.

It wasn’t that surprising, he had seen similar things at the academy and the Mage Guild. Usually, a security precaution to prevent thieves from making way with an entire collection of items in a single bag. Disgruntled, he could only make a pile to carry with him, adding to it as he traveled upwards.

It was on the seventh floor of the Spire’s library that he finally spotted what he was looking for. This floor was a complete mess. Only remnants of books remained, scattered pages and shredded book bindings. Something had deliberately destroyed everything here, even the bookshelves were smashed, not a single thing remained untouched.

Placing his pile of books on the marble floor, Wil stepped closer, drawing his sword, and feeling for the corruption. He barely had to open his senses before he felt it, the source was here, in the room with him.