In Pursuit of the Universe

Elias glanced around the decayed remnants of their ambition, a quiet resolve settling within him.

He needed to find out.

A sudden shift in the air sent a ripple of unease through him. He tightened his grip on his sword, his muscles tensing. Then, from deeper within the chamber, he heard a soft whisper.

Not a voice nor a word. Just a breath.

Elias turned sharply but the chamber was empty. Yet, he could have sworn something had moved between the towering shelves, just beyond his sight. He took a slow step forward, trying to stay composed. If something lingered here, it had been waiting for a long time. And it was watching him… waiting for him.

Ignoring the unsettling weight of unseen eyes, he pressed on, moving towards the far end of the library, where a grand lectern stood still. Unlike the rest of the room, this part remained relatively untouched – almost preserved. A single book lay open atop the ancient wooden stand, its pages unmarred by dust or decay.

Elias' fingers hovered over the open pages. Th book – untouched by time and in pristine condition compared to the rest of the chaotic library – was completely blank.

A scowl formed on his face as he turned the pages, one after the other, faster and faster. But, nothing. Every single sheet was devoid of ink, as if it had been never been written on in the first place. Why would something like this be preserved so carefully if it held nothing?

Irritated, he turned to the System. "Why is it empty?"

[ The words remain hidden. Only in the hands of the rightful should the knowledge be unveiled. ]

Elias' breath hitched. The rightful?

As if in answer, the moment his fingers brushed against the parchment again, half the pages shifted – words appearing in flowing script, stark against the once-empty sheets. But they were quite different from the inscriptions he had seen earlier on the castle walls.

His heart pounded. But he couldn't understand a single word. Ancient symbols lined the page, whispering of a time lost beyond his grasp.

"Can you translate this?"

[ Translating a blank page is beyond the scope of my functions. ]

"Blank? See… it's right here.", Elias said as he pointed his fingers at the ancient script.

[ Perhaps you need to take a break. The anxiety and stress might be causing you to have hallucinations. Though I am connected to you, it does not mean that I can perceive your hallucinations as well. ]

"No. No. It's… it's right here…"

Elias couldn't understand what was happening. Why was he able to see the letters but not the System. Was it really just a hallucination? Or, was it because he was the rightful one. He started doubting his own perception.

He exhaled, pressing his fingers against his temple before slowly closing the book. There was no point in staring at something he couldn't decipher. He'd figure it out later.

For now-

A creaking sound echoed behind him.

Elias' body stiffened as his fingers instinctively tightened around the hilt of his sword. Slowly, he turned.

The library was not the same.

The towering bookshelves had shifted, twisted and warped into an unfamiliar maze. The exit was now gone.

A sharp chill ran through him. His breaths grew slow as he tried to scan his surroundings, searching for any resemblance of the path he had taken just a minute earlier. Nothing. It was as If the library had swallowed him whole.

"System… what's happening?"

[ Unknown. It seems that the space is no longer following its prior structure. ]

The System was unable to provide an answer.

He clenched his fists. He hated this uncertainty. The feeling of being toyed with by forces unseen. He exhaled slowly. Panicking wouldn't help him now. He had to move.

With careful, measured steps, he advanced deeper into the shifting labyrinth of shelves. The towering shelves loomed over him. Unlike the armory, the room was full of dust and cobwebs, which stretched between the shelves.

The silence was suffocating. Too perfect. Not even the soft creak of old wood accompanied his steps. His own breathing felt too loud. He could hear his own heartbeat, pounding in his ears.

Then, he noticed the corridors shifting once more.

At first, it was subtle. A bookshelf that should have been behind him now stood to his side. A narrow passage he had just walked through was gone when he glanced back. The library was continuously changing. Trapping him.

He took another turn – only for the path ahead to stretch longer than before. Then another – only to end in a wall of book where an exit should have been.

Elias took a sharp breath. He needed to get out.

He darted his eyes through the entire corridor, searching for any opening to get out. He turned a corner, spotting a narrow gap between two towering shelves. Without hesitation, he sprinted toward it.

Then – a deep, groaning creak.

The bookshelves shifted. The narrow gap he was running towards began to close.

Elias lunged forward, hoping to make it but in an instant, the exit ahead sealed shut before he could reach it. The towering bookshelves groaned as they pressed together.

He was now trapped.

He spun around – only to see the other end of the passage shrinking as well. The walls were closing in.

Without thinking, he bolted forward toward the last remaining gap. His legs burned as he forced himself forward, dodging past falling books and shattered wood. The space ahead narrowed with every second.

"Faster!", he thought to himself.

With a final, desperate push, Elias threw himself through the last gap. Just as the world massive shelves slammed shut behind him with a deafening boom.

He hit the ground, rolling onto his sound. Sweat clung to his skin.

For a moment, he just lay there, feeling the pounding of his heart. That had been too close.

This was no ordinary trap. The library wasn't just reshaping itself, but it was trying to crush him.

Elias halted. He turned his head slightly as his gaze scanned the bookshelves. Nothing. Yet, something felt different. The air had become thicker and the sensation of being watched became stronger.

His fingers twitched at his side. But he needed to move forward. He pressed on, trying to navigate through the towering bookshelves. Then – he turned a corner.

And froze.

A figure stood hunched between the shelves with its back towards him.

Its spine jutted out in jagged, unnatural ridges, the flesh around it torn and stretched. Its arms were grotesquely elongated, the skin flayed open in places, exposing raw sinew and pulsing veins. Its fingers twitched erratically, tipped with clawed, bony protrusions that scraped lightly against the wooden shelf beside it.

Slowly – painfully slowly - it turned its head around at an unnatural angle, the motion sickeningly slow and grotesque. Every muscle in Elias' body cried out to run away but he stood still, staring at the abomination of a creature before him.

The creature's head lulled to one side, revealing a malformed face – or what was left of it. Its lower jaw had nearly unhinged, hanging loose by torn ligaments, exposing jagged, misaligned teeth dripping with thick, viscous blood-stained drool. One eye socket was hollowed out revealing a dark and empty void while the other bulged unnaturally, pulsating as it were still alive.

He wanted to run, but he couldn't help but look away from the dark abyss within its eye. There was something unsettling about that empty void – something more than mere darkness that seemed to consume him.

A wet, guttural gurgle escaped its throat and Elias finally tore his gaze away from the hypnotic void of its hollow eye socket. Elias' stomach twisted. His hand instinctively reached for his sword. His mind couldn't process the sight before his eyes.

His pulse thundered. His mind screamed at him to retreat. He stepped back, trying to run away. For one second, it was complete silence.

Then – it lunged.

Elias twisted, pushing himself back as the thing slammed into the shelves where he had been standing. The wooden racks splintered, dust exploding into the air. He didn't wait. He ran.

The sound of scuttling limbs behind him sent a spike of cold through his veins. No matter how fast he moved, the creature followed. The library twisted with every turn, corridors shifting, closing and opening. With every step, he felt that he was going deeper into the ever-changing labyrinth.

The sound of the "creature" had gone eerily silent behind him. Taking a leap of faith, he turned around – only to find nothing. No trace.

Elias finally allowed himself a moment of relief. He slumped onto the ground. His limbs ached but the tension in his chest slowly began to ease. He had lost it.

"What… the fuck… was that?"

But before the system could respond, a sudden tremor ran through the shelf behind him.

His body tensed. Too late.

With a deafening crack, the wooden structure splintered apart, sending him hurtling forward. He crashed hard against the opposite shelf. Pain jolted through his ribs.

The books behind him fell down, revealing another passage. He turned towards the broken shelf. It was the monster.

It had torn straight through the shelves. Its limbs jerked and twisted as it moved, skittering forward like a spider – but grotesquely wrong. Its joint bent at unnatural angles, limbs convulsing in sharp, erratic motions.

A cold dread clawed at Elias' chest. For a moment, he was frozen – trapped in the sheer, stomach-churning wrongness of the thing before him. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up. His body screamed in pain but he had no time to recover. And so, he ran.

He bolted forward with everything he had left.

He kept running as the labyrinth contorted with every turn he took. He turned a sharp corner – only to see the creature already waiting ahead. His heart pounded against his ribs.

It had once again broken through the shelves. The monster twitched and tilted its head unnaturally before it lunged again. Elias barely ducked in time, rolling across the cold floor.

"I need to get out of here.", he thought to himself in desperation.

But there was no way out. The library would not let him leave. His body tensed up. But the thing did not stop.

And then – he took a wrong turn.

A dead end.

He skidded to a stop, pivoting sharply. The creature was already there.

For the first time, it spoke.

A fractured, broken sound. A voice that did not belong to any living thing.

"…Blessed by the hands… cursed by what we became…"

Elias' breath hitched. What?

The creature lunged. And the world snapped to black.