Professor Kal - Chapter 90

Never in his long existence had he ever seen such a confusing layout. Each overly ornate door he walked through led to seemingly random destinations, even ones he walked through before would change where they led to. He assumed that the reason for the seemingly random warps were to dissuade anyone from finding something they were not supposed to, and it was working.

Finding himself in yet another long, barren hallway, Professor Kal let out a frustrated sigh. He and Ryan had split up some time ago, opting to divide and conquer, but so far, he had conquered very little. There were several spells stored within his ring that he could use to make things much easier, but that would of course alert those within the church of his presence. Being that his magic was restrained while in the meat puppet, being discovered was something he wished to avoid.

He ran his fingers over the smooth, painted walls as he slowly made his way down the hall. He held no great hope in finally finding his intended destination, but he could always count on his patience. Crossing over an invisible threshold, he felt the faint sensation of moving through space as the hall in front of him remained exactly the same. He reached for the brass doorknob, quickly turning it. This would be his one-hundredth and fifty-first door, so he wasn’t holding his breath.

The door swung inward without a sound, only a whisper of air rushing out could be heard. Upon entering the space, Professor Kal could immediately tell that this room was different from all the others he had entered before. It was most definitely a library of some kind, books filled tall bookshelves that reached high into the air. A sense of longing filled his soul as he reminisced on his own library, hidden under the earth, now devoid of the books that once filled it.

The door closed behind him, cutting him off from the hallway he just walked down and leaving him alone inside the massive library. He took a step forward before stopping with his foot hovering just above the ground. Just like the long halls that created the labyrinth like cathedral, this library was also filled with magical arrays that were almost impossible to detect.

Donning the enchanted glasses, he began to study the rotating runes and shapes that they revealed. “So, this one here is a silent alarm, and this one traps them inside a barrier. Wouldn’t want any intruders to get away now, would you?”

Taking great care not to trigger the alarms, Professor Kal used a small silver wand to alter the orientation of the runes that slowly rotated within the array. After several minutes, he finished with the first array and moved on to the second, not losing focus on the monotonous work. As he was hunched over the array that fueled a pair of steel golems hidden behind a false wall, the door leading into the library swung open and a pair of footsteps echoed throughout the vast archive.

“Brother Unilith… what are you doing?”

Straightening up and tucking the silver wand into his long sleeves, Professor Kal cleared his throat before answering. “Oh, well, hello there brother…” Suddenly, Professor Kal began to cough violently, distracting the priest from him not knowing his name. “Ah, excuse me, some spit went down the wrong tube.”

The priest cocked an eyebrow as he examined the man before him. “Since when have you worn spectacles? And what are you doing in the bishops’ library? Did Father Verlan give you permission?”

Putting on his most disarming smile, Professor Kal took a step toward the frowning priest. “I’ve always worn these, please keep that fact to yourself though, it is dreadfully embarrassing.” Putting the glasses away, Professor Kal continued. “And yes, I do have permission. How else do you think I managed to get in here?”

Nodding his head, the priest put his suspicions aside. “Right, well, what is it that you’re looking for? Perhaps I can help.”

“I’m sure you know of the case I was assigned to.”

“Of course, it’s not everyday a necromancer pops up. Really, I feel sorry for the man. I doubt he really is dabbling in the dark arts, but you know how these things go.” The priest said with a faux look of sympathy on his face as he let out a sigh. “Really, it should be an open and shut case. Why are you even putting in the effort to look into it?”

“As Bishop Verlan said, ‘It’s always better to cross your t’s and dot your i’s, makes less paperwork for you in the end.’.” Professor Kal said, hoping he put the right name to the man he met with earlier.

Chuckling, the priest grinned. “That does sound like Bishop Verlan. Come, I’ll help you find what you need.”

The priest walked deeper into the library, stepping over the already deactivated magical arrays and making his way to the one that he had yet to fully neutralize. As the priest walked over the magical array nothing happened, stopping in the middle of it, he turned around and beckoned the Professor to follow him. Crossing his fingers, Professor Kal took large steps into the library.

“What’s wrong?” The Priest asked as he noticed Priest Unilith slightly hesitate before moving further into the library.

Taking the last step with a little jump, Professor Kal let a small grin spread across his face as he answered. “Nothing, absolutely nothing. Everything is great actually.”

Emboldened by the lack of response from the magical array, Professor Kal followed the priest deeper into the library, making small talk as he did so. They walked for several minutes through rows and rows of shelves containing mountains of priceless books. Professor Kal only wished he was left alone so that he could have been able to study them.

Coming up on a barred door, the priest began to slow down. “This is the forbidden section of the library. Everything concerning necromancy and other forbidden magic is stored behind this door. I’m sure that Bishop Verlan has given you the key, so go ahead, I’ll be around if you need me.”

“Oh, thank you so much.” Professor Kal said as he slowly walked over to the door. Noticing that the priest hadn’t moved and was still standing there, watching him, he turned around. “You can go now, I can find my way back when I’m done, it might be a while, so there’s no use waiting for me.”

“I have no doubt that you can, I just want to make sure you make it in without any issues.” The priest said, clasping his hands behind his back.

“Right…” Professor Kal said as he went back to the locked door. Slipping the silver wand from his sleeve, he jammed it into the keyhole. Wiggling the wand around vigorously, Professor Kal tried to bump the lock open. It was the only thing he could do since he was being observed. Still struggling with the lock, Professor Kal could sense the priest moving in closer to him, peering over his shoulder.

“Is something the matter Priest Unilith?”

“Nope, just a stubborn lock is all.” Professor Kal said, giving up on the lock and gripping the silver wand hard in his hand.

Feeling something off, the priest just a few feet behind Professor Kal, began to chant a short spell. Instantly, Professor Kal spun around, brandishing the silver wand. Before the priest could finish the final word of power, the Professor jammed the wand into the priest’s eye and deep into his brain. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the priest crumpled to the ground, limbs twitching periodically.

“Damnit, another mess to clean up.” Professor Kal cursed as he went back to the door, this time producing a proper lockpick.

For being a door that was supposed to protect the outside world from deadly, forbidden magic, it was pitifully easy for the lich to pick the lock. In only five minutes, the door swung open, welcoming the intruder inside like an old friend. Before he walked through the door, he turned around and dragged the priest’s body in with him, making sure to lock the door behind him.

…..

Poking his head around a corner, Ryan surveyed the long empty hall. It looked just like the dozens of hallways that he’d seen before, even the amount of lighting was the same. If he didn’t know better, he would say it was the same one that he’d been in several times before. Straightening up, and taking one last look behind him, he strode toward the only door at the end of the long hall.

Professor Kal had told him to keep an eye out for anything worth taking but so far, the only interesting thing he had seen was when he walked in on a priest and a nun doing anything but holy acts. That was a very awkward situation for everyone involved, one that would take him awhile to get out of his head.

Grasping the doorknob, he gave it a turn, hearing the click of the deadbolt sliding into place he pushed the door open. As soon as it did, the air from inside the hall rushed into the room. The force from the wind was so great that the door flew inward, yanking him along with it, and slammed into the wall of the room. Losing his grip on the door, Ryan was pulled into the room by the inrush of air, his heavy armor digging out divots into the hardwood floor as he bounced.

The door he came in through slammed shut, cutting off the incoming air which stopped pushing him further into the room. Finally, no longer being pushed along, Ryan was able to stand. Immediately, he noticed that something was very wrong with the room he just entered.

First was the silence. The room wasn’t just quiet, but there was absolutely no sound, even as he clapped his hands, he couldn’t hear anything. He tried to talk, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he could feel the air inside his lungs rush out, leaving them collapsed. His tongue was tingling in an uncomfortable way as wisps of vapor were coming out of his mouth and eyes. His entire body felt tingly as well, not as bad as his tongue, but just as uncomfortable.

He was certain that if his body was not already dead, being inside this room would have killed him already. He took a step forward, trying to get used to the strange sensations covering his entire body. He noticed his hands were beginning to swell as he opened and closed them, luckily, they stopped before they got too large to be useful.

“What in the fuck?” He mouthed, not sure what was exactly happening.

He looked around the room he was sucked into, just noticing how dark it really was. The only source of light was far off into the distance, a soft blue glow that he could faintly see. The soft light failed to reach the ceiling or the walls, making the room seem like an endless black void. Even the door that had slammed shut behind him had melded into the absolute darkness, causing him to momentarily panic as he didn’t know any other way out.. The only thing he could do was make his way to the only light source within the room.