It's not Ciar's first time. Not while looking for work. How hard can it be to find work when you are the most skilled magician in the town? He makes potions that turn the most wicked vampires into frogs! And what he got for all his work? Ten months in the dungeon. It's so ridiculous that he wants to cry. "You are under qualified" he opened his arms in a very exaggerated way "To make coffee?! I am under qualified to make coffee?!" the girl, Vespera if Ciar is reading her name tag right, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, a magician that has a history of going into dungeon for making potions that turn vampires into frogs can't work in a vampire owned cafe, surprise, surprise" she said with the most monotonous voice Ciar had ever heard. Which is pitiful, considering how beautiful she is, Ciar would surely consider approaching her but her personality, it sounds like a nightmare.
"Don't be so negative Nancy! Of course he can work here" a sudden intrusion took both Ciar's and Vespera's attention away. Vespera rolled her eyes. "You don't get a say in this" "I own this cafe-" "But I am the manager" Vespera reminded. The slightly older male folded his arms on his chest with a pout. Vespera took a deep breath "If you want to hire him so much, why don't you hire him to work with you as your assistant or something?" she looked like she is trying to convince a child to be reasonable. Ciar looked at the man up and down, trying to understand how this childish man can own a world-wide famous cafe. He looked like he doesn't. He doesn't even look like a vampire with the pastel pink long sleeved shirt and wide legged ripped black jeans he is wearing. He smiled at Ciar showing his pointy teeth "Do you want to be my assistant?" Ciar wanted to snap at him and reject his offer since he sounds too cocky. But the memory of himself eating his raven's bird food back at his micro apartment made it into his mind. Maybe he shouldn't reject this lunatic's offer. "For how much?" he asked. "Three hundred fish scales" Ciar's eyes widened. That's almost five crow skull worth of money. He cannot only buy food for himself but he can finance his magician tools and herbs with that. Maybe this time he can invent a potion more useful and get money by selling it off. "Okay Mr-" "Onni" Vespera finished his sentence "I will prepare your contract, please feel free to drink and eat anything from our cafe as I do that" Ciar couldn't even say no to that as his stomach grumbled even at the thought of food. He felt himself blush and looked down while he can feel Onni's stubborn gaze on his face. Vampires, he thought. No social training nor empathy training can change their lack of emotion or talent in reading social cues.
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Ciar is sure Onni is bullying him. This cannot have any other meaning. Now he understands why the pay is too good to be true. He looked at the fish's breath in his hands. The most disturbing and slick fish you can find out in the ocean. And he needs to swallow it raw if he wants to breathe inside. "Okay Ciar, you have licked crow piss to get high in academia, this is not the most disturbing thing that will enter your digestive system" he reminded himself. But he was three years younger than who he is right now when he did that! He made a crying face. "What kind of job requires you to find a damned secret library under water?!" he screamed knowing Onni is not around right now. He pouted, closed his eyes, squeezed the sides of his nose and gulped down the fish in one go. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore his gagging reflex until the fish reaches his stomach. "Oh that was easy-" the second he can breathe again he choked on the taste of it. It tasted worse than crow's piss. He gagged for a long while until he realized the taste is gone and he had grown scales on some part of his body along with fins at the back of his wrists, ankles and neck. He drummed his feet on the ground like a child. He doesn't want to get into the water. Who knows what's in there? What will he do if he runs into sharks? Okay he knows what he can do since he spent so long studying in academia but still! Can't Onni do this easier with his immortal and fast body that doesn't require oxygen?
He knows there is no use in complaining now so he closed his eyes, calmed his heart down and jumped in. The cold water made him shiver at first but it only took a second. When he opened his eyes, he realized he can see everything clearly. Well not that clearly since there is some wind but clearer than if he were to dive without eating the fish. He wondered if he can run into any mermaids. He knows they have cities underwater but would they know about a secret library? He does not think so. Also there is a high chance that he might never be able to come across their cities either. They built them in such depths to not have any harmful nor peaceful contact with land creatures and humans. Or they use powerful mage-mermaid hybrids to completely cloak their cities that are closer to the shore if they want sunlight. You might be walking around in one of them without them or you knowing that you are. Ciar shook his head, he needs to focus to find this library Onni wants. The things he is doing to be fed is ridiculous but he knows if he runs back to his witch mother and vampire stepfather, they will only laugh at his face and tell him they said-so. He should have accepted his mother's offer and get into the government of magic as a potion maker instead of creating his own brand and potions. He rolled his eyes. He still found a way to make vampires frogs, so who knows what he can do if he was given the resources he needs? He thinks he has the ability and creativity. He just needs to better his relationship with the law of faeries. Maybe he should hire a fae lawyer and talk to him about any potion he will attempt to make. But that's tricky too, right? What if the guy steals his idea? He was about to get more frustrated at his thoughts when he had to stop upon seeing long silk like arms and a big pillow like see through head with a key inside. He stopped. Looked at the jellyfish in front of him with interest. What is that key? He tried to reach for it in curiosity but the jellyfish quickly jerked away. He frowned and tried to snatch it away but it jerked away again. After five or six times, he got aggressive and started chasing the jellyfish with all his might. The jellyfish continued to ran away until it stopped and spatted the key towards Ciar before it disappeared from his sight. Why can't Ciar even come across a not-so-crazy jellyfish? Why is- his complaints stopped when he raised his gaze. His lips fall open at the scenery in front of him, erasing his former thoughts completely. An enormous window showing an enormous library hidden under a rock stared back at him. He looked down at the key. Maybe the jellyfish wasn't so crazy, it was just trying to show him the way. But he can't see any doors. Why would the jellyfish go away before showing him where can he put the key to open the library? He swam around for answers. When he cannot find any doors around the building, he decided to swim under it. There he found a door without a keyhole.
When he opened it, he was sucked into a little glass cubicle and the door closed behind him. "I can't believe I did it!" he exclaimed when he can breathe normally again. He initially thought he would have to swallow at least five other fishes to find the library. He put the key through the hole with excitement and opened the door to reveal the largest library he had ever seen in his life. It looked like it had infinite floors and the ground floor served as a little apartment with a bed, a functional kitchen, a living room set and another door he guesses that opens up to the toilet. He would feel shy if he were to sleep here and the mermaids could watch him as they pass by. But even the thought of having this all to himself excited him out of his mind. Which reminded him why he is in here in the first place. "Oh that bastard Onni is the one who will get to enjoy this" he murmured sadly. "Well it felt good for a second to think I can have it" he sighed as he took out the teleportation device Onni had bought from the tech mages and started setting it up as instructed so Onni can come.
The teleportation device buzzed with with energy. It was making such noise and emanating so much light that Ciar feared his life had come to an end, his death in the hands of a raconteur vampire and a very sketchy tech mage. None of the teleportation devices he had seen before made this much noise nor used such energy. But to his luck instead of dying, he watched as Onni's silhouette entering through the intense light and into the endless library. Upon entering, the first thing he did was to check under the bed and open the bathroom instead of saying anything. Well at least Ciar knows for sure now that the door opens to a bathroom, right? "Have you seen a mischievous little elf upon entering the library?" he asked towards Ciar. Ciar quickly shook his head. "Damn it! They are probably lost amongst one of the infinite floors!" Ciar looked rather disturbed "You-have you entered this library before?" he asked. Onni shrugged his shoulders "It used to be mine" Ciar tilted his head "Then why did you sent me to find it?" Onni rolled his eyes "Because an annoying elf had stolen the key, got inside the library and cast spells that prevented me and my mage friends to access it" Ciar sighed, so he could really stayed inside and no one would be able to force him out."Then how was I able to access it?" Onni chuckled "The key would only appear to ones that does not know how the library looks" "That's the stupidest- what the fuck is this elf doing? All he had to do-" "She" it was Ciar's turn to roll his eyes "All she had to do is to cast a spell that keep the mages and vampires out, is she mentally ill? What kind of stupid condition is that to put on a spell like this?" Onni started laughing at him "Well, I guess she just wanted to keep out the people who are looking for the library-" "Then why is that not the condition, why people that 'knows' the library but not people that are looking for it?" Ciar continued complaining. Onni looked at him with some sort of sincerity. "Okay, okay you are right kid, let's say she was far too young and inexperienced when she first stole it" "Don't call me kid, we look only ten years apart and I am taller than you" Onni folded his arms on his chest "I am two thousand years older than you" he reminded "And you are just one head taller than me, it's not like you are a giant, you know?" Ciar looked away. "Okay then, now that you have your library, can we go away?" he asked. "No we need to find the elf" Ciar looked like he could cry "In these infinite floors?!" Onni nodded very seriously. "You can do it while I make some food for you" "By myself too?!" he asked. "Well it's not easy to be the assistant of a special unit detective, is it?" Ciar looked at him with and unbelieving gaze "You are lying, there is no way you are-" Onni got out his illuminating badge. Ciar sighed. "Go quick, come back quick, okay~" he left Onni on the ground floor and started climbing to the first one.
The first floor was boring to say the least. There might be infinite floors but the floors are not infinite. They are rather small. Only taking up a bookstore quantity of books. On the second floor, even if there are still books, Ciar can see some spell and potion ingredients. He would love to browse them but he feels like the longer he spends on these floors, the farther he will have to go to catch that elf. He turned around and was about to go up the stairs but a thought stopped him. He quickly went back towards the ingredients, took vampire tooth, werewolf bone, mint and frog tongue. "Oh this will stink so bad" he murmured as he made his way down to the ground floor. "Have you found her?" Onni asked surprised upon seeing him "No" he went straight towards the kitchen, got out a sauce pan, filled it with water and opened the stove. "Are you that hungry?" Ciar first dropped the mint inside "Do you think I like eating vampire tooth, werewolf bone and frog tongue?" Ciar asked sarcastically. "What are you doing then?" Ciar glanced up for a second. He is not sure if the elf is listening to him. "This is not a known potion recipe Ciar" Onni murmured "Are you trying to kill me so you can be free? I swear you can-" a purple cloud surrounding them stopped Onni's sentence. It was caused by boiling vampire tooth and werewolf bone together. Onni started coughing but Ciar did not stop as he threw in the frog tongue after the bone and tooth is melted. Onni gagged audibly "What the-okay I will help you-I will" Ciar doesn't even acknowledge his pleads, he put the now finished potion on the side to cool down and started going through the cupboards. Onni couldn't take this anymore, he will die because of his curiosity. He grabbed Ciar's wrists and stopped him. "What are you trying to do Ciar?" Ciar stopped. He doesn't like the way Onni is leaning over his body. Nor the way he can feel all parts of the vampire at his back. "Where are the glasses?" he asked instead of answering. Onni stayed like that for long until he sighed out and let go of Ciar's wrists. He opened a cupboard , got a glass out and put it on the counter. Ciar pour the potion inside the glass, took a deep breath and drank it all in one go.
Onni watched as he double down and cover his mouth to prevent himself from puking. And the second Ciar looked okay, he disappeared. Onni sighed "I guess I need to trust you, don't I?" he made his way towards the fridge. "Maybe if I make delicious enough food he wouldn't abandon me here~" he took out some ingredients "He devoured the homemade pizza Vespera gave him that day, maybe I should go for that" he got out flour, eggs and salt. He watched as everything replaced themselves. "Oh cool" he murmured. Everything here is infinite. He didn't know that the infinity spell he hired a mage to do could affect food- "Oh wait this is illegal" he murmured. Since this means you are stealing from other universes or maybe from other households in this one when you take food from an infinite fridge, it has the same penalty in court as thievery. He sometimes forgets he is an ex-criminal. An infinite library might be in the grey area. But it's still thievery, since with every floor you go up, you probably steal a tree or some planks, same with every book you wish to find, you stole it from someone's personal library. He tried to ignore the fact that what he is doing is illegal and continued his cooking for now. It's not like he can stop his younger self from creating this library even if he continues to think about it.
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Ciar used the strong saliva that comes from the frog's tongue and started climbing up the floors through the wall. The stamina and speed coming from the werewolf bone and vampire teeth helped him advance more easily. And the mint let him focus, causing his eyes to scan every floor quickly.
He stopped only when his eyes detected a movement at the two hundredth floor. He watched as the beautiful elf crouched on the floor, bored expression on her face with five books surrounding her and big headphones on her head. Ciar blinked in annoyance. By now, they are in the air. The window showed the clouds, not even planes or witches existed on this height. But his problem is not height right now. It's how he can catch the girl. He knows he can't really chase her around. She looks in her twenties but that means she is at least two hundred years old in elf years. Which makes her more experienced than Ciar. Ciar cannot use simple spells. He can't really run down and tell Onni either. He needs to think of something. Quick. With a sudden idea, he jumped towards the girl and before she can even scoot away, his arms looped around her body. The affect of his potion caused their bodies to stick together. He didn't wait too long for her to react, instead he threw the two of them off the railing right after that. "Are you crazy?! Let me go or I am going to turn you into a beetle and use your juice to make aphrodisiac!" instead of taking her threatening words seriously, Ciar awaited to have a very turbulent landing, he hopes Onni would be able to heal him on the spot with his many mage made packages that he carries around or he will be in a very serious trouble. Right when he saw that the scenery out the window changed into ocean, he closed his eyes for the pain he will experience. But instead he was stopped in the middle of the air. A pair of arms caught him. He opened his eyes and looked at Onni with an unbelieving gaze. A loud clank was heard before any words are spoken "You are under arrest for thievery and operating an infinite library illegally" he put Ciar and now the handcuffed elf down. "You should let her go now, or she might think you are a pervert" Onni stated naughtily. Ciar rolled his eyes "Do you think I would still be holding-" the stickiness must be wearing off as Ciar heard a long eerie sound before a thud. He looked down to see the angry elf looking at him with a frown on the ground. He was about to say something else but a sudden dizziness took over his mind "Uh-oh I don't think you should mix so much ingredients at once" before Onni can even turn at him to understand why he is saying that, he lost his consciousness and let all the control he had over his body go.
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The infinite library is filled with the smell of coffee, pizza and expensive perfume now. Ciar is laying flat down on his back on the bed while Onni watched the passerby fishes sitting on the couch. Only when Ciar got mobile, Onni directed his attention back at him. "Good morning soldier" he laughed. Ciar sat up grumpily "I am not your soldier, I am your employee" he murmured. "And now you are an employee in special unit as an intern mage" Ciar frowned "I am not a mage yet, just a magician-" "You have years of education in academia, you specialize in potions and you are talented enough to come up with a recipe that works on the spot" he looked directly into Ciar's eyes "You are a mage, a potion mage" Ciar snorted "Okay even if those are true, I do not want to be employed in government, I just want a not-so-serious job to earn enough so I can afford ingredients, make my own potion recipes, open a shop and-and live the rest of my life-" "You will not only get a salary but I convinced them to let you keep this infinite library as your home as long as you don't go out of your way to generate floors every day or sell what you cook, they are okay with it" that took Ciar's interest "Can I experiment with potion making?" Onni laughed but nodded "You will be generating from my kitchen when you eat and from my ingredients when you make potions, unless you wish for a very, very rare item, which in that case come to me, I will buy it for you" Ciar tilted his head "How many floors are there now?" "Three thousand" Ciar's eyes widened "How can I generate more floors anyway?!" Onni snorted at his question. It seems like anything that comes out of Ciar's mouth sounds like a joke to him. He sighed "Can I bring all my animals here?" Onni nodded once. "And can you buy some sort of a curtain? I don't want anyone watching me while I sleep" Onni nodded again. "No one can see this library from outside but for your comfort I will" he added. "And another thing, we removed the entrance too" Ciar frowned "Then how can I get in and out" Onni threw him a remote "Your own teleportation device, only you and I have one to enter" Ciar looked thoughtful "So I can't invite friends?" "You can, just teleport them one by one before teleporting yourself" he rolled his eyes as he turned his gaze away "Not like you have any" "Hey!" Ciar complained. "Will you help me move in too?" "I will Ciar" Onni looked bored now "You are making me regret giving you this library as a home" he continued. "Why are you doing that anyway? Don't you have a potion mage in your team already?" Onni shook his head "Right when I employed you as my assistant, my team's potion mage retired and I suggested testing your abilities and hiring you instead of looking for one right away" Ciar looked curious "Why?" "Not everything have a reason" Onni answered. Ciar watched as his gaze turned towards the large window. His stomach grumbled which took Onni's attention right back at him "Oh true! I made pizza for you" he quickly lighten their mood again. Ciar watched as he hurried towards the kitchen. Even though he doesn't show it, he is actually glad Onni not only find him a job but basically gave him his dream house. He knows he will not own the house. But even to live in it for a month would make him extremely happy. His mind then wondered what other adventure this creepy vampire will put him through from now on. Maybe this government job wouldn't be as boring as he anticipated.