Rodentia Adventures

CHAPTER 24: THE TRUE THREAT REVEALED

"At last!" Dimitri exclaimed, "I've finally done it!" 

"Done what?" the nearby research assistant asked, yawning, rubbing his eyes, wishing that he'd had just a few more hours of sleep. The library scholars all had homes of course, but still usually chose to remain near the text, the sacred tome being the first thing they would see when they fell asleep, as well as once they had awakened. This was done both to maximize their possible working hours, along with the hopes that the secrets of the mysterious artifact might reveal themselves through the dreams of the researchers. 

"I've cracked the code! At last, we can finally read the sacred texts!" 

The assistant simply nodded along at first, still half asleep, before the words completed the rather long journey from his ears to his brain, and he was suddenly jolted awake. "Wait, a minute, are you serious?" he said, jumping up to his feet. 

"Yes. It's a very slow process, but I have no doubt about its accuracy. So far, I have only translated the text on the outer page. Unfortunately, It will still be many months before I can make sense of the bulk of the text." 

"This... this is fantastic!" the assistant said, "This could change everything! The information within this book could lead us, all of us, into a glorious new age!" 

"Yes. Of that, there is no question." Dimitri smiled, looking very much fatigued as well. It had been a long, well, a long life, really. People had regularly told him that he should rest more, that the ancient text wasn't going anywhere, but how could he? Each day he moved just a little bit closer to solving the puzzle, and with the recent attack on the city, which resulted in the near destruction of the library, the assessment that the text wasn't going anywhere wasn't necessarily an accurate one. It wasn't an easy task, not by any means, requiring cross-referencing from many different sources of various usefulness, progressing agonizing slowly, but then, out of nowhere, it all simply seemed to fall into place, as the great puzzle unfolded before his very eyes. 

"Well, what does it say?" The assistant asked, stepping in close, eager to take in every word. 

"The first page of the ancient text says the following: 'Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Second Edition, Dungeon Masters Guide'." the lead researcher said in a deep, theatrical voice. 

"Amazing, truly amazing!" the assistant beamed, before his expression shifted from delighted to confused. "But... what does it mean?" 

Dimitri opened his mouth to speak, raising a pointed finger, eager to teach the young student, but instead froze, frowning. "I have absolutely no idea." 

<3~ <3~ <3~ <3~ 

"Well, that was certainly... something." Aaron said, as the group walked back out through the castle. 

"Ah, yes, one never forgets their first battle against an ancient evil fought while drifting through the sea of cosmos." Rowan nodded his head. 

"Huh, is that the sort of thing that happens a lot?" 

"Indeed. Why it's practically cliche at this point." the old sorcerer replied. 

"It sure was lucky that King Theos discovered the dark overlord's one weakness: being punched in the face for 45 straight minutes." Jerin said. 

"I don't think that was..." her brother replied before simply shaking his head. "Uh, never mind. It doesn't matter" 

A crowd had gathered within the palace district, few if any of them understanding exactly what had transpired behind the castle, but strongly suspecting that it was something very important. At first they crowded around the four adventurers, before the large mouse, Theos burst out through the front gate of the palace, crown upon his head.