<~> Chapter 189We followed the woman into the library and the sounds of the rioting outside quieted. The inside of the tall spire had a rge open lobby with three floors of bookcases surrounding the open spa the middle. Against the back wall of the lobby rose a giant statue of a woman holding a book in one hand and a quill iher. It was the first actual depi of Sorsette I had ever seen.

  "It is unfortuhat you came at such a difficult time," The woman said as she led us past desks and tables toward a rge reception desk. "Normally this pce would be bustling with activity but with the situation outside we've suspended many operations for the day."

  I gnced around, there were still several people sitting and reading at the various desks and chairs but the room didn't look particurly crowded at the moment.

  I turned back to the woman. "Did Theo tell you to expect us soon? I'm surprised we were reized at the door."

  She smiled in amusement as she looked back at me. "Theo did mention you, though I knew you would e sardless. The goddess herself had asked the leadership of the library to keep a for you, she expected it wouldn't be long for you to seek us out once you reached the capital city."

  I scratched the base of my horn. "How... easily are you able to speak with Sorsette? I khat she ied with mortals more than ods but it sounds like you have regur versations with her."

  "Or, your presence is more auspicious than you are aware. After all, few would have the head librarian herself register your membership to the library." She grinned, walked around the desk, and touched a round stoe there. "Lilith Baphomet. Beldonna. Mimi. I have nistered you three to the Great Library of Sorsette. I apologize but I ister those in boo the Great Library, though should you eventually gain your freedom you will also be preapproved fistry. In the meantime, you may enter here with someone else who is registered. I see that some of your other friends are not with you, you may inform Raya, Sibyl Steelglyph, and Cecilia of Silvergrove they are also wele tister should they e by." The ced three silver cards on the desk fag us. "These cards also serve as identification for entry into cities that require it."

  I picked up my card and gnced down at it. "What are the bes of beiered at the Library?" I asked.

  "Oh? Has Theo not told you? I suppose he wasn't aware that you and your friends were preapproved for membership. Membership to the Great Library of Sorsette gives you access to most of the books and knowledge kept here as well as other libraries in the Goddess's purview as well as csses and training in many discipli disted fees. Depending on the level of membership, you are also entitled to personal assistance from our librarians and copying of excerpts from our scribes. Your membership is of the highest quality so you may ask for personal assistance for up to four hours per week and ten excerpts of up to two pages a month or twenty pages in total for no charge. The card will also serve as proof of membership if you wish to receive dists from various businesses associated with us throughout the world. Many cities that require tithes or charge tariffs on imports may also give you dists based on your membership as well. Be warned however, not all cities and tries have a positive view of Sorsette, a bit of research before you enter would be wise. These cards also entitle you to prote and sanctuary should there be a time of crisis." She gestured to the doors behind us. "Such as during a citywide riot."

  I raised an eyebrow. "It's not that I'm unhappy to receive membership but I'm a little fused why this is being offered to me and my friends out of nowhere."

  She ughed. "It's not out of nowhere. I'm told that you yourself are sidered a follower of Sorsette via the system. I'm also aware of your... circumstanbsp;regarding your hidden titles. Rest assured, the Library is very strict when it es to matters of fidentiality. oddess wishes to build strong ties with a burgeoning new race, especially ohat is shaping up to be powerful and iial. This is just our first gesture of goodwill." I looked around, slightly uneasy with the way she said that out loud in the middle of the lobby. No one seemed to be paying attention but that wasn't all that reassuring.

  "Right..." I slipped the card into my pocket and watched Bel and Mimi take their cards. Man was basically drooling over the card and Mimi erfectly happy to let her look over her new library card. Despite the vaguely suspicious situation, the sight brought a smile to my lips.

  I looked back at the Librarian. "Alright, well I was hoping to browse some of your books, perhaps something on the stru of ritual magic?"

  She nodded. "You'll be wele to look at what we have but before that, I wish to have a private versation with you, Lilith Baphomet."

  "Just Lilith is fine..." I g my friends. "My friends 't e?"

  For the first time, the woman frowned a little. "I'm afraid I must insist that this be a private versation, though you may speak to them about the versation afterward. I'm sure you'll uand the situation quickly during our meeting."

  Man put her hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, Lilith. We'll be fine. I'm sure whatever she o talk to you about is important." The librarian gave Man a small nod of thanks in response.

  "Will this take long?" I asked.

  "That will be up to you I suspect," she said with a shrug. "Your friends are free to browse the library to their tent while they wait for you to return."

  I sighed. "Okay. Let's take care of it now then."

  "Excellent. This lease." She gestured in a dire and started walking toward a door tucked between two bookcases. I gnced back at my friends who had started to spread out in the library before following the woman through the door. She led me up two long flights of stairs before bringie office filled with different kniacks, books, scrolls, and statuettes.

  She gestured at the chair fag her desk and sat down across from me. Suddenly the hairs on the bay neck stood up on end and I felt the nature of the room shift. The woman's blue eyes began to glow and something about her presenbsp;abruptly felt overwhelming. The trick Silva had shown me of determining someone's level range based on your own made me feel dwarfed by the sheer power the woman across from me gave off. The woman's features shifted and she became a stunningly beautiful elf rather than the human that had just been in front of me. Her ears lengthened and poked out from her hair, her hair's bck chtened until it ure silvery white, and her robes suddenly looked ethereal and wispy.

  "Wele to my home, dear Lilith. Now that we're in a more private setting we talk more didly. I am Sorsette, the goddess of knowledge and innovation."

  My gut dropped, I felt ftfooted and out of my depth. I had sidered the possibility of ing face to face with a god again after it had happened with Charon, but this time things felt different. Visiting Charon was like meeting him in a dream, this time Sorsette was in front of me, magical presend all.

  She ughed and rexed ba her chair. "o be so disturbed little one, I'm excited to finally meet you. There's no need for so much . Let me get you something to drink." She waved an arm and a tray of tea and clear water suddenly appeared on the desk in front of me.

  I cautiously took a gss and poured myself some water to wet my suddenly dry throat.

  She nodded. "Good, just rex. o be so worried. If I set with you I wouldn't have invited you into my home, little one. Now then, there is a lot to discuss. Though I suppose I should first ask you if there's anything pressing you would like to know before I start asking a few things myself. It's only fair."

  There's one question that has been bubbling up over the course of my adventure so far. Something that has bothered me about my iions with the gods. "Have you been maniputing my growth? I was told you influehe system and it seems to be pushing me in a particur dire."

  She smiled and leaned back again before steepling her fingers in front of her. "I have and I have not. It would be more accurate to say that I locked in yrowth soon after it happened. I've been watg you closely from the very beginning and I leasantly surprised to find that you weren't the force of destruany prophesize you to be. I am not able to use the system to force you to ge your view on things, how you see yourself, or how you wish for the in title to alter your base abilities and race. All I do is force your status to update sooo reflect how you feel. I did not make you renounce your e to demons but I did make your status immediately reflect how you felt, the moment you felt that way."

  I frowned. "You've been watg me that closely? Reading my thoughts sihen?"

  She shook her head. "No. I ot read other's thoughts. I suspect that is also why not even your own powers truly allow for that. I am however able to see markers in the system that reflect particur things. I saw when you were first exposed to a demon aed it as kin, there is a marker for that. I took advantage of the opportunity and pushed the ge to your race before you could ge your mind. Are you disappointed by that?" she asked.

  "...No. It's true, demons in this world are a far cry from how I view myself."

  She grinned widely. "Good. It's no wonder with how quick you were to earn yourself the [Demon Hunter] title." She ughed. "You should have seeh's rea. The god of demons issed when you not only rejected his demons but immediately began to undermine his work. With so much focus on you, the mother of succubi, a demon, kig off the prophesized sed war of the gods, he had been w for years to bolster his followers and spread his influence. Only for you to turn away and immediately reject him."

  My brows furrowed. "The first demons I had ever seen were grotesque horrors that were trying to kill me and my friends. How would that make me do anything but reject him?"

  She began to ugh again and wiped a tear from her eye. "The dumb sod thought that he was doing you a favor, leading you to a dungeon so that you could get stronger. He did not expect that your first enter would sour you to demons and for you to not only destroy that dungeon's core but also help repulse the dungeon break afterward and earn yourself a title for it."

  My hackles raised. "Wait, did you say he led me to that dungeon?"

  She nodded. "Yes. Gods ... push and pull things. Tug strings into pce. It is less one of us trolling your as and more like one of us presenting you with... opportunities."

  "What kind of opportunities?" I asked.

  "Mmm, I would have enjoyed chatting about a few more things but this is one of the main things I wished to talk to you about." Her demeanor suddenly shifted to something more serious. "I know you're ed about the prophecy you retly learned about but I would like to put your mind at ease. Your as are not causing this prophecy. It is already pying out. Long before your appearan this world, there has been a cold war brewiween some of the gods. Your appearance here is merely the signal that things are starting to py out."

  "Are the gods bound by this prophecy the same eople are?"

  She chuckled, though a lot of her mirth had died after the ge in subject. "First I would just like to say that the divine are people too, as much as they would like to deny it. And bound is... the wrong choice of words. Truthfully the various prophecies are not as ironcd as the ones I assume exist on your home phey funore like simutions here, meaning they are not only very malleable but they are also proo error. The more you know about them, the easier it is to push the result in your desired dire. Pce that on top of old and poor transtions and you have situations like the oh the Tamin church."

  I gripped the desk tightly. "If that's the case why hasn't aopped the Tamin church from ag that way then?"

  Sorsette shook her head and sighed. "The Divine Accords. The former priest you were talking to was wrong. The Tamin churbsp;is backed by gods, three in fact. And not even I know all of the ones involved. If we interfere with them directly it breaks the accords and the way the Tamin church is handling things is not by act. They are being pushed to act the way they are iionally, though I'm unsure of their true purpose other than a desire ter another war."

  She leaned ba her chair, her glowing blue eyes ily focused on me. "I have however identified one of the gods behind the Tamin churd she's of particur io you. Fortuna, the goddess of lud fortune."

  Saine

  Hello! You ot guess at how excited I've been to post this chapter! The events of the dozen or so chapters have been things that I have been pnning sihe very beginning of the story! We also finally get the reveal of the very first god associated with the Tamin church! This is a god that hasn't e up yet but I think everyone here guess why they might be relevant to Lilith. Sorsette is a very iing and fun character to write, she's gohrough several versions in my head before I finally settled on this one. I hope you ehe chapter, I 't wait to see everyone's rea!

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