Luckily, though, there were some parents who chose to bring their children with them into the building, so at least children weren't banned from entering. Aden guessed that any children had to enter and exit with their parents. He likely wouldn't enter through the front door when he actually performed his heist, but it was always good to have a backup. Plus, this little reconnaissance mission would be incomplete without at least attempting to get a look at the interior of the building, and he planned to find a way inside once he was done with his initial observations. For that, he may as well enter through the front door. If this little mission failed, he'd have to come back at night, when he'd have the cover of darkness to boost his Stealth Skill.
Aden waited until the crowd of people flowing into the building grew especially thick, then carefully crept out of the alley and joined the throng. He figured it would be easier to hide in plain sight, blending into the crowd, than to try to avoid detection entirely. His Stealth Skill seemed to agree, for though his Stealth aura shifted to yellow the minute he left the shelter of the alley, the aura changed to green again once he was safely shielded by the anonymity of the crowd.
Aden idly considered the change in his aura as he made his way through the crowd, and he realized that green must be the combination of two other states of his aura: though he was clearly visible and being observed (yellow), he was still successfully avoiding detection (blue) by his intended target. Blue plus yellow made green, after all. He didn't even know who, exactly, his target might be—maybe there were guards just inside? Regardless, his Stealth Skill seemed to know, and Aden decided to put his trust in the Skill. If his aura turned yellow or red, he'd immediately abort the operation.
When he arrived at the entrance to the building, Aden was careful to stay close the couple entering in front of him so as to creep in their shadows and hopefully avoid notice. As he stepped through the doorway, he slipped away from his unwitting escorts to hide behind a nearby pillar. Keeping to the shadows, he carefully peeked out to see what kind of building he'd entered.
There was a gray-haired man sitting behind a reception desk, on the other side of which was a great line of people, all waiting to be helped. The man asked for their names and what business they had here. This building was apparently an administrative hub, where people could do everything from requesting work to requesting documents from the archives to settling disputes with other residents. Those who required the direct involvement of elders like Aden's father were directed down a hallway to the right, while job seekers were directed in the opposite direction. Those seeking documents from the repository were asked to fill out a request form and then wait. Aden couldn't see the contents of the request form, but he had a feeling that filling out a form wasn't really an option for a child his age, anyway.
Regardless, he figured it couldn't hurt to know a little more about the correct process for requesting books, in case he failed at the heist or found it impossible to access the books on his own. He watched as a tall man in a flowing robe received a large tome from a female attendant who appeared from a door behind the counter. They held a hushed conversation before the tall man received the book then bowed and left in a rush, the tome held open before his eagerly searching eyes.
Meanwhile, Aden's eyes tracked the attendant as she returned to the door behind the counter and drew some runes in the air before the door emitted a loud *click* and swung inward. As she walked through the door, Aden tried to commit the rune she'd drawn to memory. He'd expected the place to be well-protected, but he hadn't realized that it was secured by magic. Leaning heavily on his Observation Skill and high Intelligence attribute, he was able to accurately recall the rune she'd drawn, and as a portion of the design lit up in his mind, he was surprised with a message in his Action Log:
Skill: Spell Writing 0.2 has activated.
Rune Identified: ACCESS
While this rune produces no effect by itself, it is often used as part of larger rune sequences or patterns to create effects that permit or restrict access to certain areas or objects.
Over the last couple years, Aden had been able to observe his mother and father using spells to complete everyday tasks, and as a result, he had advanced his Spell Writing Skill a couple tenths of a level. His progress with the Skill was painfully slow, and decidedly disappointing. Despite having seen his parents use simple magic to perform the same tasks over and over, he'd never received any messages about the runes he'd observed, and while he had some theories about what some of the runes he'd seen might mean, this was the first time the system had confirmed the meaning of a rune. What's more, when he peeked at his Skills list, he found the rune listed beneath his Spell Writing Skill, complete with an illustration of the rune.
Aden wondered what was different this time around, and as he searched his Skills list, he spotted an asterisk by the Skill name. As he focused on the ACCESS rune, the entry expanded to show previous instances in which he'd seen the rune. Apparently, even his mother's anti-stink spell had included the ACCESS rune, though Aden couldn't fathom why.
He realized with a start that he'd been ignoring his surroundings, and he looked around rapidly, calming down again only once he determined that he confirmed by his green aura that he hadn't been discovered. He felt a little foolish; surely, he would have been alerted by a red aura if he had been spotted, so freaking out about it seemed rather silly. Still, he had to remember that even his parents had considered killing him when they thought he wasn't acting appropriately for his age. If he was caught trying to break into the town's repository, it would surely end no better.
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Aden watched the business around him unfold for a long time, periodically moving to a new shadowed vantage until he found himself just around the corner from the repository door. He'd only been here an hour, but in that time, many people had come to either request or return a book. Each time, the person was asked to sit in the same waiting area, and after a few minutes, the same attendant as before opened the door and offered the desired book or inspected the returned book before returning through the warded door.
Aden paid close attention to the sigils the attendant used to open the door, but no further rune-related insights were forthcoming. After discovering he could learn runes over time just by paying attention, Aden wasn't bothered by the lack of notifications, only excited by the prospect of learning more runes down the line. He still needed the books of the repository in order to actually use the runes, though, so it was with renewed vigor that he continued his quest to break into the repository. No longer did he merely wish to find a way to enter at a later date; he wanted to complete the heist today.
So far, he had been successful, but now he was faced with a major obstacle. He simply couldn't figure out a good way to get through the warded door unnoticed, except by slipping in close behind the attendant the next time he opened the door to return to the protected collection. It was a risky maneuver, but he already had a plan for if he got caught: he'd just say he wanted to see the glowing symbols.
As it turned out, his excuse wasn't necessary, but neither was his initial plan, for as the attendant opened the door, someone called out for her and she turned her back on the door while holding it open with one hand. No one else was around, the desk secretary having left his post to help someone else. So Aden crouched low against the wall behind the desk and crept through the open door.
He was immediately faced with a stairway leading downward, seemingly hewn out of the rocky earth, with wooden planks lain across the stairs. All this he observed by the dim green glow of some peculiar stones that were set in the walls of the stairway. The stairs themselves were a little too tall for him to take easily, but he knew he had to hurry or the attendant would catch up and find him out. He did his best to sidle his way down the stairs with both hands against the wall. The extra support allowed him to move a little faster, though it brought back uncomfortable memories from his days in physical therapy.
Shaking off the weight of memory, Aden continued down the stairs, barely making it to the bottom before hearing the sound of a locking door echoing down the stairwell behind him, followed by the sound of hurried footfalls and muttered complaints.
Aden wasn't in the clear just yet, for before him stood a sturdy oak door. He had a moment of panic as he wondered whether the hinges would creak or the door might be locked, magically or otherwise, but the attendant's scraping feet and whispered complaints, only a few hundred feet behind him now, prompted him to try his luck with the door anyway. It swung open smoothly on well-oiled hinges, and Aden slipped silently through before carefully closing the door behind him.
He had hardly taken a step beyond the door, however, when the door swung open again, causing Aden to jump out of the way. By improbable luck, or perhaps a hidden effect of his Stealth Skill, he was able to dodge aside behind the opening door without alerting the rushing attendant. What's more, the attendant's incessant muttering drowned out any sound Aden's feet may have made on the smooth stone floor.
"...now I've got to clean up their mess? Seriously, who uses a family heirloom as a bookmark? A bookmark! If I ever get ahold of that..." the woman's voice faded away as she rushed down the nearest row of shelves, and Aden breathed out in relief. He was safe now, but throughout the encounter, he had been surrounded by an ominous yellow aura, warning him that he was observable. Now, as he sank down in the shadows of the shelves, his aura returned to a safe, calming blue.
Aden took a moment to just breathe and take in his surroundings by the light of the glowing stones. In his mind, he'd been picturing something much different than the rows and rows of supplies that greeted him. Instead of being filled solely with books, it seemed the repository was far more comprehensive, a great stone room that could only have been created by magic. It was more of a storehouse than a library, with everything the village might need. Amid barrels of emergency food stores stood shelves packed with everything from rocks and rabbit skins to tents and unspent torches. With the sheer number of shelves, it would have been impossible for Aden to find anything down here, let alone the books he was after, but he at least knew which direction to start looking.
He hurried down the row the attendant had taken, and within less than a minute, he had found her again. Her mutterings now seemed more resigned than angry, and she was conveniently distracted as Aden slipped down an adjacent row to stay out of sight. He watched as the woman scanned the shelves and continued on deeper into the room, pausing only periodically to confirm her location based on which items were on the shelves around her. It was only a couple minutes of walking and searching before she finally arrived at a section of shelves filled with books.
Looking more closely at the shelf he was hiding behind, Aden realized there were translucent stones on the top corners of each shelf, bending the light of the glowstones to provide steady illumination down the entire length of each row. He briefly wondered at the magic involved and the ways in which it tied into the science he knew from his old life. As he idly watched the attendant, hoping she'd leave so he could dig into the books, he idly daydreamed about what he would do with magic, once he learned it. Were these light-bending stones complicated, or could he make them himself? Of course, he was most excited about how he could use magic for healing, but what was the harm in having a little fun with it, too?
Suddenly, a sound behind him, like the scraping of stones, startled him from his musings, and though he feared the worst, he could find nothing there once he turned around. His aura was still a steady blue, so after a quick scan of the shelves behind him, he turned back toward the attendant and—
The attendant was gone. He could faintly hear her footsteps echoing down the aisles toward the exit. His short distraction was yet another reminder of the dangers of inattention. What if, instead of heading toward the exit, she had come his way? He wouldn't have known until it was too late. There was even a failed wisdom check in his Action Log to confirm his mistake.
He gulped and thanked his patron god for such luck, then returned his attention to the books. There they were, the objects of his dreams and hopes for the future, just waiting for him to pick them up. He glided over on silent feet, careful to keep his senses open for any sign of danger, and began scanning the books one by one until he found one he could understand. He had taught himself to read, but that didn't mean he could read everything. He assumed that many of these books were academic in nature, or at least written by academics, so that a self-taught, three-year-old scholar had no hope of understanding them.
Unfortunately, the books that were probably about magic were limited, with most books being about politics, geography, or similar subjects, and the few magical books he could find were far beyond his level to understand with his limited grasp of the language. Regardless, there was a whole shelf devoted to books for use in the schoolhouse, including books on grammar, mathematics, and history at varying skill levels. He grabbed an introductory book about grammar and moved a rows away to read. He watched with satisfaction as each turn of the page advanced his language quest, and a broad smile split his face as he thought about his future.