Library of Rain

Return to the Low Ring

Rain spent several hours in the library looking through books and getting an idea of what was there. There was a lot on politics and economics and a whole section on forest management. One scary large section was full of nothing but journals from past lords and ladies of House Estom. 

The best part, though, was the small section with nothing but stories. Stories on brave classers and charming lords, stories about adventure exploration and battle. There were even stories of nothing but romance. Rain didn’t get those. Of all these books, there were two that Rain was excited to read; the first had a picture of a dragon on the cover and no title, the second had a lady in a tattered dress and wearing a crown embroidered on the cover above the title 'Rise of the Fallen Lady.' 

Rain placed those two where she could easily find them later; those would be the first she read next time she couldn’t sleep.

About an hour after she started her exploration, Lucus walked back into the library and began wandering around. 

“Hi Lucus! What are you looking for?”

“It’s none of your business, weirdo!”

And with that, he left having done absolutely nothing. 

Rain had no idea what to make of Lucus. But he had been nice enough to her last night, so she decided not to get angry. 

Rain took one last look around the library before finally warping out of the manor. It was time for her to see if Mr. Mirage had gathered a group of recruits. 

When Rain got to Mr. Mirage’s home, he was gone. Not unexpected. Still, it was annoying. Even during the day, this wasn’t a part of the city she could wander around without causing problems. 

Realizing her mistake in coming here so early, Rain snuck into his house and used his door to enter her library. 

Rain turned around to look at the carved door that led to the shaft. She could spend some time exploring it before nightfall, but no, being in that part of the library would raise her corruption. She was already at 14%, much higher and she would start showing symptoms. 

With a sad sigh, Rain realized she should have brought one of those storybooks from Estom Manor.

When nightfall finally rolled around, Rain was waiting in her black classer costume. She had spent a good chunk of her time waiting, trying out different looks, and pretending to play different roles, but she decided to talk with Mr. Mirage in the black classer costume. He was used to it, and playing a different role now wouldn’t be as fun as trying that role on someone fresh. 

Opening the door, Rain walked out into Mr. Mirage’s home. There he was, along with the two girls he had adopted, sitting around a table eating. All three of them looked at Rain. Oops. She probably should have waited until the girls were asleep. 

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Oh no, they look scared!

Rain started shifting her weight back and forth. This wasn’t good; she didn’t want to scare the girls. What could she do? There was nothing for it but to abandon her acting and try to be as friendly as possible. Rain prayed her aura wouldn’t be too much for the girls. Raising a hand high above her head, Rain waved. 

“Hi, Mr. Mirage, how are you?”

The younger of the two girls, who couldn’t have been older than five, climbed off her chair and hid behind Mr. Mirage. Rain waited for worse, but there was no crying. She let out a sigh of relief. 

“Lady Tyix, I’ve been waiting for you to make contact.”

Mirage pried the little ones' hands off of himself and knelt before Rain.

Rain forced her eyes off the girls she was terrified of scaring, and looked at Mr. Mirage for the first time. His now gray hair peeked out from under the tattered cap he was wearing to hide his fluffy new ears. There was also a bulge up his back where Rain guessed he was trying to hide his new tail as well. 

Rain wondered if he had shared his transformation with anyone yet.  

“Good, but now is not the time or place.”

Rain wasn’t going to talk with him about taking over the organized crime of the Low Ring while his little sisters? Daughters? Whatever. Were listening. Looking at the food on the table, Rain realized this might actually be a perfect opportunity to test out her newest skill. She had Mr. Purple pull it up for her.

[Enter Dream: You may forge a connection to anyone who consumes a portion of your body. This connection will allow you to enter their dreams and communicate with them while they sleep.]

Walking over to the table, Rain picked up a sharp-looking knife. The girl, who hadn’t moved yet, sprang off her chair and joined her sister, hiding behind Mr. Mirage. No matter how often it happened, it still hurt to have people run from her like that. 

Rain used the knife to cut a shallow line on the bottom of her pinky finger. Then she squeezed two drops of her blood out into the cup of water that had been sitting in front of Mr. Mirage. That done, she picked up the cup and got down on one knee in front of the kneeling ash fox-kin. Rain proffered the cup to him. 

“Drink it.”

He didn’t even hesitate taking the cup and draining it. Rain, for her part, focused on forging that connection, pushing the part of her that was still connected to the blood to bind with Mr. Mirage. 

As the cup was emptied, Rain felt the connection form. She could feel Mr. Mirage in her mind, similar to how she felt the coins she was bonded to. Just like the coins, she could also feel his existence but not where he was. When she tried to use the connection to connect to him, it felt slippery and unstable. 

Based on the description of the skill, it probably only became possible to interfere with the connection after the target fell asleep since she was only supposed to be able to enter his dreams. 

“Very good. I will contact you later. For now, enjoy your time with your loved ones.”

Rain almost told him she would see him in his dreams but realized that if her skill didn’t work like she thought it would, then she would look like a fool. So, she kept things vague. 

“Of course, Lady Tyix.” Mr. Mirage said from his kneeling position. 

Rain’s acting must have been really good if he was this deferential after almost a week of not seeing her. Rain tried not to be too proud of herself; still, the corners of her mouth twitched up in defiance of her will. 

Rain stood, and without saying another word, she warped back to the servant room in Estom manor. Now, all she had to do was wait for him to sleep so she could talk to him in his dreams. 

Her stomach growled, reminding Rain that she hadn't eaten all day. She had a coin out in the Low Ring, but it was in a section of the city where street vendors were rare, and by the time she ran to where people sold food, everyone would have gone home for the night. 

With a sigh, Rain realized she would just have to go hungry again tonight. Rain remembered the description for her 'Path of Wealth' skill saying that she could increase the number of coins she could connect to through practice. It would be great to have more coins. Then, she could leave them all over the city and warp to wherever she needed to go at any time. She would definitely have left one in an area of the city where food was sold.

Still, it was strange that she hadn’t upgraded that skill by now with how often she used it. Maybe she was doing something wrong? She would need to test things out.

Rain walked out of the servants' room into hers, then taking one look at the bed, she decided it wasn't worth trying to sleep again and went into her sitting room. The whole place felt so empty. Especially when Rain thought about Mr. Mirage eating with his small family in their tiny home. The entire place had been smaller than just this room, yet Rain wished she could be living there.

With a sigh, Rain plopped down on one of the couches by the table, and that’s when she saw it: a small lopsided sandwich sitting on the table with a note next to it. Rain picked up and read the note.

“If you’re going to hide all day to escape studying, you should at least come eat dinner, weirdo. Because you didn’t show, I ate your dessert. Anyway, here’s some of my leftovers.”

Rain smiled as she pulled off the bread and started eating the meat and vegetables inside the sandwich. Maybe her empty rooms weren’t so empty.