Chapter 32: Following Strange Women*
Hearing Melting Snow's excited voice, Xinya wondered what was going on. He thought that Melting Snow may have gotten a really good item or something during a quest while he was offline.. Curious, Xinya asked, "What happened?"
"You know that video I recorded of us fighting the King Bellyborg?" Melting Snow asked.
"Yeah, what of it?" Xinya replied.
"It went viral!" Melting Snow said excitedly. "My channel has become really popular recently, I'm getting friend requests left and right. I feel like a star."
Xinya was confused about all of this, he didn't understand why a video of them fighting the King Bellyborg would go viral. It wasn't a rare monster or anything and it was also a low level one at that. While Xinya was thinking about what about the fight could possibly entrance people, Melting Snow continued on.
"A lot of people keep asking me how we did it. Since to summon the king we had to kill a lot of Bellyborgs. They kept asking who was the range fighter that helped us and wouldn't believe me when I told them that we did it on our own. I almost told them how we did it but I got upset that they doubted my skills." Melting Snow said with a slightly irritated tone.
After hearing that, Xinya finally understood why a simple video of killing the King Bellyborg went viral, two close combat players able to summon and take it down without the help of a range player was unthinkable. Many people would want to know how they took down so many Bellyborg, not to summon the King but to gather the feathers. Bellyborg bird feathers are one of the top five feathers that are great to make arrows and, since the Bellyborg are low-level monsters, they would be easier to kill. No wonder there were a lot more people in town today than it was all the time he has been here.
"Don't tell them, let them figure it out for themselves," Xinya said. "Also, it might be good if you disallow friend invites so you won't be bothered by spam invites."
Melting Snow smiled, looking proud, "I already did that, but I allowed personal messages just in case I get the attention of a sponsor."
"You know that isn't likely to happen to us, regular players," Xinya said.
"Let a kid dream. Who knows, it could happen." Melting Snow replied. "So, what are you up to right now?"
"I was about to head to the town's library to figure out my skills."
"The library?" Melting Snow said. "I go with you."
"Are you sure? I'm just going to be looking for some books. You might get bored." Xinya said.
"Don't worry, I needed to go there anyway. I need to find a beast taming manual about this region's monsters. I want to get a beast companion soon." Melting Snow replied.
Xinya thought that it was about time that Melting Snow started thinking about getting a companion, so he nodded his head, saying, "Oh, alright. Then I will meet you there."
"Okay, see you in five." Melting Snow replied before he disconnected the communication.
~~~~~~
Reaching the town's library, Xinya saw that Melting Snow was already there waiting for him on the steps. Once Melting Snow saw him, he waved happily, opening the library door while also motioning for him to hurry up. Smiling, Xinya jogged up towards him and they walked inside the library together.
The library was bigger than it looked on the outside, it had a rustic feel while still being comfortable at the same time. There were books everywhere but the place was quite spacious, with seating areas scattered all about. The walls were painted in neutral colors and had paintings of gentlemen Xinya never seen before in his life, but overall it looked nice and quaint.
While Xinya was taking in his surroundings, Melting Snow had already headed to the front desk. There were three people who were sitting there, each of them had a book in their hand. Xinya assumed that they were the librarians who worked here. Standing right in front of them, Melting Snow cleared his throat to get their attention.
"How may I help you, young man?" Asked the librarian on the far right. He was an elf, a very handsome one with straight black hair, pulled back to reveal a long, narrow neck. His bright green eyes looked at Melting Snow patiently as he waited for an answer.
"I'm looking for books on beast taming, could you help me find some?" Melting Snow asked politely.
"Sure, we have some books on that." He said. "Ms. Mable can you direct this young man to where the books on beast taming are located."
"Sure thing. Senior librarian Chilson." Ms. Mable replied before escorting Melting Snow to one of the shelves.
When they were a little away, Sr. Librarian Chilson turned his gaze to Xinya. "Do you also need help to find a book?"
"Yes, I was wondering if you have a book by the combat potion maker Shilvak," asked Xinya.
The elf face turned regretful but, strangely enough, the expression of the librarian next to him changed. Xinya would have missed it if he wasn't paying attention.
"I'm sorry to say that Shilvak's manuscripts were lost a long time ago. There were only several copies made but, somehow, they were misplaced and were lost to the world." Chilson said. "I would have really loved to read them."
As the elf was speaking, the other librarian got up and walked to the back shelf a little away, while giving him a look. It was a look that conveyed that she knew something but that it wasn't her place to say anything. If a person wasn't perceptive enough it would go unnoticed. Which is probably why those other players couldn't figure out how to get the skills.
Although following a strange woman behind a bookcase wasn't something that Xinya was eager to do, he knew this would lead him to his skills, so he would have to suck it up. After thanking the elf for his help, he walked to where the woman was.