The Academy’s library was vast.
Tall shelves stretched upward, almost touching the ceiling.
Thousands of books.
Scrolls.
Archives.
The smell of old paper and something faint — like light that had long since gone out.
Liebe walked slowly.
Not knowing where to start.
Alice.
Just a name.
But it pressed against his chest heavier than any strike in training.
He started with the general archives.
The Abyss.
Dark creatures.
Known threats.
Nothing.
Or rather — too general.
Useless.
He went deeper.
Into the old section.
Where the shelves stood closer together and the light barely reached.
The books here were different.
Older.
Heavier.
He read the spines slowly, fingers brushing each one.
Chronicles of the Abyss.
Volume III.
The Fall of the Southern Lands.
Records of Light Energy Anomalies.
Nothing about Alice.
He was about to leave —
A book sitting slightly apart from the others.
No title on the spine.
A dark cover with a barely visible symbol.
Liebe stopped.
The symbol was familiar.
The same one from the vision.
Blurred.
A female silhouette.
The edge of darkness.
He reached out.
Touched the cover.
And immediately — cold.
Sharp.
Deep.
Not the temperature of the air.
Something inside.
Like something had reached back.
Liebe didn’t pull his hand away.
He opened the book.
The pages were old.
Some damaged.
The text was handwritten — uneven, as if written in a hurry.
He began to read.
The first pages — descriptions of Abyss creatures.
Ordinary.
Then — a name.
Alice.
Liebe went still.
The text around the name was different.
More careful.
“She does not take life.
She takes what makes a person themselves.”
A pause.
“Strength.
Memory.
Light.”
“What remains after her is a body.
But not a person.”
Liebe felt the cold grow stronger.
He turned the page.
And stopped.
The last page had no text.
Just one mark.
A fingerprint.
Fresh.
Recent.
Liebe slowly closed the book.
Looked around.
The library was empty.
Silent.
But the feeling didn’t leave.
Someone had held this book.
Recently.
Before him.
He pressed the book against his chest.
And walked out quickly.
Not running.
But close.
Because now — the question wasn’t who Alice was.
The question was — who else was looking for her.