"A mere Lower Pillar, you say?" Kaufman looked at Richards and chuckled. "That's more bothersome than big, aloof, and old fools. In fact, guess who is saying that?"

  "I don't suggest calling anyone that."

  "I do... cause that's makes too much fucking sense. Old fools. That's us. Me, I mean. Others. Out there, and even shockingly closer. They play around like fools."

  "What else do you need?" Richards urged as if wishing to change this topic.

  "Ah, I dunno. Maybe do not bother Mi-Yung? It sounds like a clever thing to do, so let's scratch that. Any additional information about William is fine to seek. Also... that girl. That one. Is she really the cause of that incident? She has an interesting dog."

  "She is no cause—just a survivor from someplace. Dreadus protects any intel, but rumors spread, and most clarity is within his squad alone. Then his Division, and Assembly, of course. It was a huge deal. We have never seen such a vivid and vast Sea."

  "Try Reaz to fish for news."

  "She is adamant about screwing my ass, and you know that Assembly is tight. Pillars are even tighter."

  "Oh... That's a rare issue indeed. Maybe Fain?"

  "No. I thought Reaz would be more than happy with my offer. Shame it didn't work out," Richards said, disappointed and sad.

  "How rare indeed. Why is everything so difficult? Even with the differences between Walkers and people."

  "It is what it is."

  "I used to say the same thing... now I dread it. Nothing could change the ending outcome, but it did. It is freaky. It all comes down to choices, which is good. I don't deny the worth of choice, but it might be bad for a proposition or two. It is yet another step, but is it down or up?"

  "But..."

  "No buts. Mi-Yung is a variable, but so is everyone else. It's not like her talk could have any bigger impact on the result, since the boy won't end up well anywhere. She might teach him in my stead, and it isn't as if hurrying forward is fine or bad. Also, someone called me a shitty teacher before, and even worse Master. Nowadays, I tend to agree with this sentiment. That is at least my guess, but... the beginning is important. Maybe I really should strike upon this insanity."

  "I wouldn't insist on that."

  "I don't either. It is a risk."

  "Unlikely one, I hope. Anyhow, I will be on my way and report my findings tomorrow."

  "Do what you choose, but remember, Mi-Yung will go through me first, then the others. Now, go. Don't get caught. Maybe we will see each other soon." Kaufman waved his hand, snatching his hat from something above him. Space and air shuffled and tensed, revealing cracks all over the air that touched the floor.

  He put his hat back and looked forward, enjoying the scene in front of him. There was nobody, and no steps echoed either.

  "Viktor Gale. Your kid rings a bell at me, but no karma exists. You should be glad instead. Your son is odd, so what about the mother? What about her? I lost touch with that... fuck. I will have to dig it out... How annoying is it to know that which has been lost?"

  Adjusting his hat, fighting with it didn't change his mind. He could only smile.

  "Though his father was different. A powerful Menace is what is right. If he is like him... No. He won't be. Talent is subjective, and his Emblem is wilder. I should call the First Head! This is a way. Not yet precarious. The last path for myself is ahead, or I will end... it myself." Kaufman mumbled his thoughts out loud.

  His analysis produced more results than Richards. He was just a little pawn, after all. A rather intriguing one, as one Academy side did have quite a bit of weight on this issue. Using them was fine. Finding something positive was not.

  Kaufman's needs were definitely not easy, and there was a big difference between his prudent, crazy, or patient choices. These choices could affect the entire Federation or not at all.

  And the Assembly won't like most of it. Good. Let them drown.

  ***

  The upper floors of the library were darker and hid secrets. At the moment, Mi-Yung was stepping back and forth in a nervous pattern of unease, tapping her arms against her forearms while standing on a familiar floor.

  "Is something wrong?" William asked beside her. They were both in front of many doors. William didn't have the patience to ponder her annoyance too much. Then, a sight aside was quite frightening, revealing an enormous leap towards the first floor.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "I am thinking. I am thinking." Mi-Yung said twice.

  Behind them, Ellie huffed and felt she would never love flying. Oh, how naive of her. It wasn't pleasant in the slightest, but it could always be better.

  Hound would almost agree if it weren't for his panicky twitching eyes and fur.

  Celeste clutched her fists and was silent after stopping her shiver. Her expression was dark, and her hair was messy. Ellie was no better, but at least she was trying to make herself presentable.

  William leaned on the railing, took his bottle, and quenched his thirst. This bottle came in a clutch often, as thirst was the most annoying thing in the world. Hunger wasn't; it could sink through sheer will, but not thirst. That was a hard and physically repulsive curse.

  Looking down from such a height was rare, but not as frightening as other things. Mi-Yung was more frightening, for one such example.

  "Hmph! No way! Let's go inside and deal with what you SHOULD know. Not like Kaufman stopped me, and if he will, I am sure he will remember what it means to sing!" Mi-Yung stopped her worries and steps, grabbed Kaufman's full-pass card from William's pocket, and approached those doors.

  She opened one in a different location from yesterday. It had a big letter V, a Roman numeral depicting the number five.

  Inside was a tight entrance for a single person to go through. At the end of a dozen-foot-long corridor was a bright light.

  Ellie assured Celeste that everything was fine, but for some reason, Celeste didn't trust her that well. So she gestured for William to keep the door open and give them a minute to calm down.

  William agreed and wasn't privy to why they were like that. There were way too many things ahead and behind him, so he walked after Mi-Yung inside. He doubted Kaufman would do anything to Ellie, let alone… well, he didn't know Celeste, or her Hound.

  Mi-Yung's worsened mood was definitely common, but as with Walkers and women alike, he wasn't experienced with either. Her mood was up to her alone. Not him.

  Entering the wide room, William found it quite spacious, even with many rows of shelves and closed numbered cabinets full of research materials. Some of them had letters. There were a couple of rows of tables and chairs in the middle for seating.

  Each side of the room had dozens of tall cabinets with small doors, handles with locks, and a small screen. It was obvious that an adequate card unlocked them. Cabinets with hundreds of report sheets had a system, unlike the welcoming room.

  "I don't care what to choose. Kaufman gripped my nerves, so what is even the highest or most dangerous Dark you have met?" Mi-Yung turned to him, inquiring and hoping to change the topic and her mood.

  "Dark? Wait, what is this room? Archive?"

  "Yes," she uttered a single word.

  "Oh. If I have to guess, there are Hellgars, but those are weak. Crimjaws are nothing big, and so are some…people-like Darks. Razzgars and Runjaws are a bit savage, but nothing comes close to the situation at Camp Rountmore. A huge Primeval decimated it. It shattered the mountain and crushed the boulders like nothing." William described little of what he knew and observed.

  He was unaware of that thing's name to this day, but this place might change it. Mi-Yung, as someone who has looked for him for years, might do it better.

  It was no tale or a fantasy; he knew how bad and terrifying Darks could become when unleashing their wrath or Corruption. Hordes were a brutal and vivid group of that idea, while Rifts and Incursions were unusual and rare. Back then, he wasn't even sure what happened.

  The Darks' names weren't very substantial. He clearly lacked his lessons, and since this place required awareness much more than Outside, he planned to learn about Darks better than ever.

  He told her the truth, which came from the bottom of his heart. The first room Kaufman showed her yesterday also helped.

  There were many names and knowledge about the Darks. Many ideas were shared from Outside and back, so these archives have quite a lot of depth. It was about resources, killing, defense, strategies, and experiences.

  The Federation used all sorts of efforts and resources to gather them, so any new observations were great. It was one of the good factors that no one would deny Outside, though, privileged, high-ranking knowledge was still beyond normal people.

  They didn't dare ask why that was the case, let alone where these potential hazards, risks, or destruction originated.

  A simple reason of a mere Rank 5 Dark usually crippled regular people and caused many casualties. They were dozens of times brutal than most monsters at Rank 4, which pointed to a big qualitative leap in their evolution.

  Outside knew Darks fairly well at that point, and where to run and not even attempt to fight. Thus, humans were not envious of how Walkers dealt with them, as they had to manage what was never easy.

  Yesterday, William discovered family orientations, a couple of evolution trees of a couple of monsters, and enormous lists of names. All he needed was to further those basic, remember their descriptions, weaknesses, and hundreds of potential Dark Aspects that could have further variants and changes. Linking them to his actual appearances Outside should also help, yet.... there was shit ton of other things.

  All in all, there were tens of thousands of variants, ideas, and names, and his head hurt from the amount. Remembering every one of those fuckers was not possible for him, nor was it a necessity.

  Some archives were just a note; nothing more than a small knock into an enormous feedback that cost countless deaths and effort. This room was the result of many generations, and it was still incomplete and missing many things.

  The welcoming room described less obnoxious stuff. This one had information even about Rank 7 Darks and full reports about them, their habits, habitats, skills, dark aspects, instincts, voice, tone, steps, bodies, and so on. William became aware of how big of a deal this was and how intimidating it felt.

  He was young and too wet behind his ears. A lot of worse things shouldn't be available, for fear of scaring and tricking their nasty minds with bad predispositions. It was about confidence, arrogance, and awareness. Some youths were just not stable at this stage, while many were like that for personal or devoted reasons.

  Yet they were still pushed into Rank 1 boundaries, years ahead of the natural process.

  As William described his brief idea of that enormous Primeval, it piqued Mi-Yung's interest. She was more than aware of them. They were very interesting at her Rank, and their results and ideas were far from anything young, growing, or pretty.

  Primevals had a minimum Rank of 5, which created more questions than answers.

  "Camp Rountmore, yes? I remember that place. It got dragged into the mud four years ago, which means... I see. You were there. That must have been quite hard to survive. I remember fewer than one in ten people did, and no one got there in time."