Chapter 178

Lykan

Cinders

Even after just a few years, the once majestic setting of the great library of Abberty village was still little more than charred ruins now. Ruins that were overrun with abundant life. Trees, bushes, and vines all made their way through the charred confines of stone that once served as the mighty foundation for the most impressive building in the village.

Birds and other small mammals made their homes in the different branches and outcroppings of stone and plants.

Looking at the damage, it was clear that this building was particularly targeted by the invading Azani forces of Ajimal. The only reason Lykan could think that such a great structure would be targeted was due to spite. This building was only targeted as a way for the invading forces to break the spirit of the surviving inhabitants. Inhabitants who managed to hide in the underground structures. Structures that were likely used to offer forms of resistance.

That is the only logical reason Lykan could come up with, as there was no other purpose for such wanton destruction.

By now, the books and parts of parchment that had somehow managed to survive the initial onslaught were well and truly destroyed. Rot, erosion, and wear and tear of animals all played their parts in destroying every vestige of memory that the once great books contained. Leaving behind only molded fragments of once great works that inspired Lykan to explore the world.

Once again Lykan looked in the known safe area where his father, well acting father, kept his most important documents. This time, just like before, Lykan only found an empty cubby.

This time he did a slightly more thorough inspection of the hole. He dragged his hand around the stone enclosure, only to find smooth stone meeting his enhanced senses. This time just like the last time, he found nothing out of the ordinary about this hiding spot. Well, nothing other than how smooth everything was to the touch. There was also a faint coldness to the texture of stone that caused his attention to be drawn to the enclosure for a little longer than necessary.

Unfortunately, regardless of how long he stared at the hole, it was just as he remembered the last time he was here. The spot was broken, and emptied of the hope it once contained. Though in a way, this was had also brought hope back to Lykan when he was last here. Last time, the hole had been completely sealed and was still emptied. This meant that his father had not only had time to retrieve everything, but he also had time to seal up the spot to hide his escape.

Still knowing what he knew now, there were so many things that Lykan wished he had checked for back then. Though to be fair, he had not been in his right mind. He had been in a lot of pain, and not in a good place mentally.

Ultimately, he found himself being a monster. Or at least he was compared to a monster by his former villagers that he had once lived with. Granted he left as a small child and came back as a man, but no one seemed to recognize him. That was just a matter of how much he changed from the life experiences he endured.

Now, he looked around the building that he spent most of his childhood and could only use his intense memory to remember the layout and placement of everything.

Rumble.

Lykan felt the way that Brenna used Earth qi on the building. Nothing major, just a pulse to show the layout of the building. Piggy-backing his own qi usage off of Brenna’s he could feel the layout of the building. Using the qi as a form of sonar, Brenna had bene able to map out the different nooks and crannies that defined the structure.

There were of course holes that were created by massive stones falling. Holes that were then either expanded upon by rodents entering the walls, then reptile and other creatures chasing the rodents through their newly made holes.

Ultimately everything was as it should be. At least that was what Lykan thought.

“What is that?” Brenna asked.

“What is what?’

“That.” Brenna said, as she pulsed a condensed burst of earth qi at a particular point on the floor.

Feeling the pulse, Lykan realized this was at the center of the floor, in what his father had described as the anchor point for the whole building. The base pillar from which the whole building was built from.

Looking at the stone Lykan only saw the same stone he always had. The same stone that had bee there for as long as he could remember.

“That is the anchor point for the whole building.” Lykan said, not quite understanding what Brenna was getting at.

“No, it’s not.” Brenna began, but then cut herself off. “Well, it is the anchor point, as you say. But can’t you feel that different harmonics of the stone underneath?”

“Harmonics?” Lykan asked. But even as he spoke, he remembered the odd resonance feature that all most dwarves seemed to possess. This was the natural attunement of the dwarves that was bred for generation after generation to find metals and other natural resources easily.

Looking around at the structure, Lykan realized that he had been a fool. He had his blinders on, as years upon years of seeing the same structure around him had blinded him to the truth. Of course, now he knew why he could not find anything from his last time he was here. Everything that he was supposed to be looking for was already known to him.

The reason why he now thought this, was because after Brenna pointed out the anomaly, he could easily identify the secondary pulse in the anchor stone. The secondary pulse that seemed to resonate at a higher frequency than the outer stone. An outer set of stone that was clearly little more than a granite cast.

Looking at the stone with his qi sight, the differences in the two stones was uncanny.

Looking at this, Lykan was reminded of a story his father would often tell. This was the story of how famous sculptures would be shipped around the world. Statues of course were large and prone to breaking if shipped normally. So, what people did was create a statue out of a denser material like marble. Then when they wished to move said piece, they would cover the rest in a lighter protective barrier. A barrier that would be chiseled away by an aspiring artist on the recipient’s side.

Lykan remembered the story, as his father told it to him twice. At least twice that he could remember. Then he made a demonstration by both displaying a great statue, at the library for a year. Before ultimately selling it to a traveling noble who fell in love with he piece. That was when a plaster mold was used to cover the original work, so it could be shipped off to the noble.

Again, this all seemed random, but now Lykan wondered if there had been some deeper design behind it all. Some greater purpose that his father, who had been credited with mostly building the library by hand, had been trying to pass onto him all along.

The more he looked, the more he realized there was in fact something there. Something at the very core of this building.

Looking around, it was a good thing the building had already collapsed. The reason for this was the fact that right now, Lykan’s first impulse was to pull up the anchor stone and see what was at its core. The only problem would be, that if the library had still been in one piece, then doing so would mean the complete destruction of the building.

As for this current moment, removing the stone only meant that the building couldn’t be remade. At least it couldn’t be remade with its original foundation intact.

“What do you want to do?” Brenna asked.

Lykan gave one last pulse of his own qi to the local area. Checking both deep fault lines, and air currents to see if there was anything else that he had missed in this.

Then once he was certain that nothing else had been missed. He turned to Brenna and smiled.

“I want to see what my father left me. If it is a message, then it is likely something he wrote when he first found me. Meaning, I might be able to find out how he found me. Also, I might find out what he wanted from me. Or more importantly, I might find out who he truly was.” Lykan said, his thoughts running wild.

Warmth.

Lykan felt a warm touch on his arm. After a second he realized that Brenna was right there consoling him. Seeing her like this, Lykan could only smile as he pulled her close.

“Thank you for this.” Lykan said.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing I was here. Those resonating frequencies are very similar.” Brenna said.

At that Lykan just paused as he looked out thoughtfully.

“What?” Brenna asked.

Lykan for his part just finished his thought, before turning to Brenna. “The more I think about this, the more I wonder if my father had some form of Oracular ability. So many things had to come here for just this moment. The building had to already be destroyed, before I would think about removing the anchor stone. Even now, I am somewhat hesitant to remove the stone as it will forever mean that this building is gone. Then there is the fact that I could come by here a dozen times and miss what was right in front of me the whole time. Only because I have you with me, could this moment truly be possible. Yet, how could he know that you would be here? You are right, only a dwarf could notice those different harmonic frequencies from a simple qi scan. Even my control of earth qi is not that powerful as to be able to identify such minor distortions. Then there is the fact that he had to have not only known all these different factors about my life, but then gone through the process of building this all when I was a child. He built this, just after having met me.”

“Well we don’t know what is actually in the stone yet. For all we know, it could just be a general note. Or it could be nothing.” Brenna said.

Lykan just shook his head. He was certain that this was the way his father was trying to communicate with him. Though there was only one way to prove his thoughts.

Not even responding to Brenna, Lykan just focused his will and generated a burst of Earth qi that pushed the anchor stone up from its confined space.

Crack.

Rumble.

As was expected, the removal of the stone caused a shift in the overall foundation of the building. Fortunately everything that could have fallen down, already had fallen down in the years since the building was first laid to ruins.

The anchor stone also had its own problems, as the final shifting stones had spikes and protrusions sticking out. Spikes that cut and scraped away the softer outer layer of stone. While the inner layer of stone was not fully exposed, not yet. There were still signs of what was there.

Forcing his racing mind to calm down, Lykan was about to begin peeling away the outer layers of stone to reveal the solid core.

“Can I try?” Brenna asked.

At first Lykan wanted to refuse, but then realized this was only his hubris talking. He knew that while he might be able to do what he wanted, this was Brenna’s field. This was the path she had chosen to walk. To deny her, would be to deny the world’s leading expert on Earth manipulation. Something he would be foolish to deny.

Pausing for a second, Lykan took a deep breath, then nodded.

“Yes, I think that would be for the best.” Lykan admitted.

With that Brenna beamed a smile at him that warmed his soul. With that, she focused her will and began carving away the outer portions of stone, until finally revealing a darker obsidian core. A core that had been clearly carved into a known shape.

“A book?” Was all Brenna asked, as she looked at the structure that was slowly forming before their eyes.

Seeing the shape Lykan could only nod in agreement, as the text on the book began to form before their eyes. Then finally after a long moment of precision work, the text on the open pages were revealed.

“What does it say?” Brenna asked.

Lykan just stared at the text in wide eyed amazement. Then finally after his Universal Literacy skill kicked in, the words on the text came to life and revealed a message. A message he never expected to read.

“They knew?” Was all Lykan could manage to say.