Chapter 5: Vos
Xylos lightly stepped off the stead and approached the person who sounded like a village chief. The crowd parted to make way; it was as if they suddenly realized how odd it was for the person that appeared to be cheered by strangers who appeared out of thin air.
The Cheif was wearing something like a farmer's overalls, or a variation of it, with more pockets than Xylos can count.
"Don't mind them too much, it has been a while since the people here were able to watch something new and entertaining. Most of the people that appeared here in the past were all boring. I know you have lots of questions. I can either answer the questions here in front of a wonderful audience or at my place in private." The Chief smiled.
"We'll talk in private," Xylos said, the mere idea of a crowd listening in made him tense.
The chief waved at the arch and an old fashioned but rich door appeared. "Please," the chief opened the door and held it open.
Xylos stopped, debating whether to enter the door or not. Everything happened too abruptly for him to regain his bearings. He mustered his courage and said, "How do I get out of this place?"
The Chief looked at him and sighed, "Well, this was expected." He took out a pamphlet from one of his many pockets; he also handed him what looked like a round remote with two buttons; one blue and one red.
Xylos cautiously took the pamphlet and the device. When he touched the device, it glowed for a moment before dimming.
His tone changed slightly as if he was a business person promoting a product "Your identity has been imprinted on the device so only you can use it. While in this area, pressing the blue button will cause you to leave the book an appear a short distance away from the book location, the red button to cause you to leave the book and appear a notable distance away from book location. While outside the book, pressing the blue button will pull your entire body into the book if you are nearby and pressing the red button will only pull your consciousness into the book and leave your body unattended, any significant distraction from your body will pull your consciousness back to your body." He then pointed to the book.
"That pamphlet contains an introduction to what this place is, some of the most commonly asked questions and some features that a Rank 0 members can use. It should give you a good idea of what we are and what this place is. When you feel like coming back, we can continue then" He said.
Xylos looked at the features of the chief; his words and stature looked trustworthy. With the number of people here, they could have forcefully taken him captive and do whatever they wanted to him. The respect and consideration they showed to a complete stranger like him, hinted that they were civilized, but probably eccentric people. He looked at the faces of the people that were watching the exchange; some of them were sad as if a great opportunity was lost but most were neutral but leaned toward an unmet expectation.
He took one look at the people, made a small wave and pressed the blue button on the device. The next instant, he was compressed into a point before he was shot forward landing on his butt outside the book back in the library. He looked at his hands for the device and the pamphlet but he wasn't able to find anything.
He flipped his hands over and he was able to perceive a faint outline of a magic circle. As expected, he didn't escape unchanged from the encounter. He found a table to sit down before inspecting the circle with his mind's eye. When he focused on the circle, a few pieces of information flowed into his mind. First, he can will the device or the pamphlet to appear in the physical world or create a transparent illusion of it that only he can interact with. Second, it can be used to store items in a pocket with a volume of about 1 cubic meter; this is also the only way to bring items from the physical world in. Third, the active range of the circle and its effects are within 10 km of the book; anything beyond that distance and the item stored in it will be lost. The link can be re-established if the person remains within 10km of the book for about 10 minutes.
This was an impressive piece of work, obviously beyond his comprehension for the time being. Nonetheless, the possibility of being able to create something like that in the future is something that he looked forward to.
He didn't want to bring the button or the pamphlet out in the library so he headed to his room. When he entered the room, he found a letter on the ground. "It is time for your check-up. Please head to Room 312 in the Teacher's building on the 10th of Casmier at 1:00 pm. Your attendance is mandatory."
It was about 3 days from today. He looked at the letter with all sorts of thoughts in his mind. - What were they going to do? Did I stand out too much that they are suspicious or would like to dissect me as soon as possible? Should I skip it; try to escape? -
He was currently trapped in the facility. In fact, he only has about a month to live and there was only one way to exit the facility which was through the Facility Headquarters at the east part of the facility, which was also separated by a formidable metal fence. It only dawned at him at this moment that he wasn't in a good predicament.
In the past 3 days, he learned about the mental, physical, and spiritual foundations of magic and through some fortuitous encounters and his affinity for mana and magic, he was able to experience them on a physical and mental level. The life-like drawings; the flowing choreography; the entrancing music; and the logical rune magic. All of them were magic in its various forms, each simple yet complicated at the same time. All of, which, he felt that with practice, they could be mastered and integrated into a cohesive whole bringing about endless possibilities.
He might be able to actualize something like that stage, except everything would be physical and tangible instead of illusions.
He had a feeling that his only way to get out of the predicament lies with what he received from that person in the book. Lying down in his bed with his eyes closed, he visualized the pamphlet in his mind's eye and started reading it. The first line wrote in delicate crescent handwriting, "Welcome to Vos. We are a village of scholars whose primary purpose is to unravel the mysteries mana and magic. We were founded by..."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
eextreme
eextreme First rule of creative writing
Show not tell:
"He was dazed" vs "He staggered and tipped as he tried to regain his footing"
Bonus: +8 words (^_^) b