Souta looks at the book in front of him in utter bewilderment wondering to himself 'do they really just have this info in any random book' looking over the list he notices that there are 6 entries but only 2 have any actual information as the rest of the fields are marked as unknown.
He looks at the third entry first
Artifact name - Prometheus
Description - the first flame. Gifted by Tsuchigami to the third lord of elements, it is a flame that grows ever brighter and will burn for eternity. Used to [-------------------------------------------------------] location [unknown]
Rank Z
'Looks like that's all I'm gonna get for this one' he thinks before moving to the more filled out entry being the 5th one.
Artifact name - Tides End
Description - a weapon crafted by the Creator themselves was used to trap the first fairy king in the bottom of the abyss and is capable of controlling all the water in the seas as well as influencing the abyss. Is currently owned by the grand oracle.
Rank Z
'Grand oracle, fairy king, just how crazy is this wild new world?!' Souta thinks to himself as he flips through a few more pages finding nothing else of note..
-he decides to close the book for now.
Looking outside he notices that it's already dawn and gets up with a sigh choosing to head back to the library later "I still have so much to learn" he says as he looks out his window at the rising sun.
He rests his head looking up at his room ceiling making his consciousness drift.
Almost asleep he hears a knock on his door,
"At this time? Really?" Souta gets up from bed and heads over to the door angrily.
Feeling exhausted, he opens the door and sees a familiar face complimented with a scruffy beard.
"Hey sorry I was just about to go to sleep, do you need anything?" he says to the massive barkeep standing in the hallway that is obviously too small for him to fit comfortably.
"Yes I do" says the barkeep seemingly a bit annoyed "you never paid for this room tonight" says the barkeep almost threateningly
"Oh sorry I thought it was already paid for" says Souta a bit confused
"Well it wasn't so either pay up or get out" the barkeep says angrily. Souta realizing that he has no money decides it would be best to leave quickly but considering the barkeep's tone, admitting that he had no money was not in his best interest.
"Hold on please sir" he says, closing the door. Thinking quickly he grabs his library card and book he checked out, looking for a way out he spots a vent in the bathroom. Moving fast he tears the cover of the vent off and jumps up pulling himself into the vent.
Right as he does so he hears the door open and the barkeep yells "where did you go you little thief!!" Almost directly after the barkeep yells those words Souta sees a large hand reach into the vent attempting to grab him luckily though, he wasted no time crawling through the vent.
He continues crawling until he sees a vent cover that leads to outside the building upon arriving at it he quickly punches it until it pops off, jumping out he lands in an alleyway to the side of the inn.
"Get back here you thief" he hears the barkeep yell from behind him. Wasting no time however he runs into the maze of alleys and doesnt stop until his lungs are burning and his eyes are dripping tears from the wind that assaulted his eyes as he ran.
Confirming that he has escaped the brutish barkeep he finally falls to the ground from exhaustion and goes to sleep.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Souta awakens to the sounds of a familiar carnival of hooligans.
"Are they really up to the antics again this early in the morning?" Souta says, irritated posturing himself up to take in what the carnival is doing into his view, he sees many circus clowns and acrobats as well as jesters and ringmasters.
Suddenly, Soutas' world goes dark.
"Wake- human.." An ominous voice retorts
Souta opens his eyes
He looks around to see that he is still in the alleyway that he fell asleep in
"What the hell was that" Souta wonders picking himself up from the ground "that was a strange dream" he thinks aloud.
Looking up he sees that the sky is a strange hue of amethyst and cerulean, but he pays it no mind as he has somewhere to be. As he snakes through the void alleyways he eventually comes to an abandoned town square.
It seems as though there should be something there and yet it is completely empty with nothing but a couple street lamps to illuminate the area.
Walking towards the center of it he knocks nine times on the floor before spitting on the ground. It's coming oddly natural to him as if it's habitual or perhaps.. instinctual.
A strange thing happens as the world comes alive with many vibrant colors as well as the sound of children's laughter, before him as a large circus tent lies ahead.
He walks towards the tent and..
opens his eyes?
He's laying in the same alleyway that he fell asleep in, 'what the hell' he thinks to himself as he stands up 'what's going on!?' he wonders now breaking into a cold sweat
'Is this another dream?!' he looks up into the sky only to see the dark expanse of space occupied only by the moon.
"What the fuck was that!" he thinks aloud. He gets a strange feeling before looking to his left seeing an old man simply.. wandering- The man seems off somehow, but Souta can't quite put his finger on it. He feels as if he should follow the man, so he does.
After following him for about 5 minutes he comes to a chilling realization. This old man is following the exact path he took in his dream, speeding up to try and catch the man, Souta breaks into a sprint. But somehow the man is always turning the next corner no matter how far it is.
Souta kept following the man before turning into the town square from his dream, but the man was gone without a trace. "What the hell is going on right now" he unconsciously says aloud.
Looking around he suddenly feels extremely cold, a voice gnaws on his consciousness urging him to continue on.
"You must continue.. Your fate awaits-" A sinister voice scratches at his ears.
Soutas eyes vignette submitting to the voice, he continues on fourth taking step after step approaching the center of the town square.
His heart races, beating faster with every step, his eyes jitter and lock on an area unknowingly familiar to him and seemingly mystical.
He makes it to the checkpoint set to him by the sinister voice from earlier, as he crouches down his hand glides further down to a tile in the center of the plaza.
With his hand trembling he slowly but rhythmically begins knocking on the tile in front of him. Counting towards nine he grows more restless until the fated ninth knock occurs. "There's one step left" he hears.. but, strangely it seems to be from a different source than whatever was speaking to him earlier, a voice of connection, a voice known to him mentally and emotionally.
It was his own voice.
Steeling his nerves he spits upon the tile. Yet for some reason his spit is blood stained, he licks his lips only now realizing that he was clenching his jaw so tightly that his gums began to bleed. Looking down upon the tile he realized that nothing happened 'well that's really anticlimactic..' He elaborates.
Just as he thought that the world began to rapidly change around him, almost as if a curtain was lifted off reality itself. Many vibrant lights suddenly illuminated the town square, completely filling his vision as he saw many children and even some adults rushing forward.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" he asks a random bystander
"Don't you know, it's about to start!" the boy says almost as if Souta was the most ignorant person on the planet.
Looking forward he sees it...
The carnival has appeared.