Hero's Bane

Chapter 24: Must Be Great

"Alright, time to light this place up!" Nigel said in excitement. He quickly took his blazing torch and walked along the edge of the room lighting several unlit torches sticking to the walls, he then walked up a set of stairs to the miner's right and eventually came out upon a wooden balcony that circled the room above. He walked through several doorframes on the second floor, illuminating the separate rooms that additionally created more light. "Hey Steven, up here! Get a glimpse at this!" The old man waved before pointing upwards and setting a couple more torches ablaze.

"Whoa?" Steve's eyes widened as he proceeded to walk further into the enormous library. It was almost like the corridors, long and expansive. It's walls stretched outwards in shelves and a few scattered dusty display cases with scrolls. It wasn't any ordinary library he's ever seen before no, it was massive and books lined shelves that climbed all the way up to the ceiling which was a good twenty blocks high or so. Visually, it was just slightly smaller then the hallway by height and had walls and rooms attached but no arches. His gaze moved from the high shelves down to the aging wooden balcony that visibly seemed sturdy and in good condition. "Just how big is this place?" Steve raised a brow before moving into the center of the room near a few low and dust covered bookshelves. He made a glance at the old books and many of them definitely appeared to be old and worn down along the edges.

"This is the archives of your ancestors, from the beginning to the very end!" The elder began with a thrilled tone. "Though this place is now devoid of life; it just holds so much memories and experiences, a lot of them in personal memoirs or some made into fictional tales. From the arrival of miracles and hopes down to tragedies and disastrous events. All historical trials of this land are stored here along with stories of people's dreams of the future of the empire. Many other types of documents lie here as well, like in this room to my left-." Nigel pointed.

"This room holds specific pieces of literature regarding laws and past crime cases, it's also where I found most of my information on Herobrine's case. Then we have the room to my right that holds bundles of discoveries and sciences of the world! It's a vast collection of knowledge! It's very fascinating and it's all in ancient manuscript!" The adventure said as he held his arms out with great elation for a moment before grabbing the wooden handrail. "Right now though, I'll have my search up on the higher shelves in this area. Didn't have that opportunity the last time, I still hope to find more information on this 'Lionel', so I'll start my look here and make my way around. I'll uh- ... I'll try not to take too much time." Nigel chuckled to himself and pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. "We have plenty of time so far." He then removed his bag and coat and laid them on the floor, then grabbed onto a tall ladder close by and carefully began to climb up it.

Steve watched as the elderly man bravely moved up the aged ladder made of decaying wood, it even creaked with each step taken. He was sort of concerned for the guy but he knew that the old man would want to risk anything for these books.

Feeling exhausted from his previous fights, Steve kneeled down next to a bookcase and leaned against it. He curiously eyed one of books within reach, it stood out among the rest with a brighter color and it even had a golden symbol painted on it's spine. He moved a hand forward to take the book off of the shelf and felt his nose crinkle up after wiping the dust away from it's surface. "How has Herobrine not burned down this place?" He wondered, wouldn't the guy have something against the written works by humans?. Peeling the book binding back he found the first page to be written with strange symbols. He tilted the book several ways to see if he could make out any letters, but it didn't look like any kind of writing he was familiar with. "Just a bunch of mumbo jumbo." He says quietly to himself with a raised brow of curiosity that was quick to fall flat.

He turned the page to find hundreds of more tiny neatly inked signs all written neatly along an invisible line, the writer was definitely skilled. Steve almost wished he could read it, just to see what it all meant. He started to skim the page after page but there was nothing he could read, just tons of squiggles and lines he couldn't understand.