Arriving in Crocus, Shin took a moment to take in the atmosphere of the town. Several months had passed since his last visit and things had not changed. It was as bustling as ever with vendors selling various trinkets and knights patrolling the streets. Chatter filled the streets making it nearly impossible to hear your own thoughts. With the constant flow of the crowds moving along, it made it easier to traverse the area without bringing much attention to Gastly, the large black sphere floating behind. Everyone was to engaged in talking with another they rarely had a chance to look towards whatever had passed them. However, even if the creature was to attract attention, it would certainly not be out of the ordinary.

After a brief rest and refueling, Shin began to make his way towards his sole reason for coming here - the library. Although there were several libraries in other towns, his belief was that the capital held the most books within the shelves of its libraries. Asking various residents of the town as to which library would provide the best information, he was led to The Fable.

The Fable was a two-story building made of bricks and mortar. In large wooden letters was the library sign and below the signs a wooden doorway acting as the entrance and exit. Compared to the libraries in Oak Town, this definitely had a rustic look to it that screamed aged knowledge. Hopefully it would have the answers to the questions Shin sought. With Gastly beside him, the two entered the library with a push of the door. A stench that reeked of knowledge filled the air. Various shelves lined the floor leaving little room to walk in between. Books were all over the place, either scattered on the tables, grounds, or tucked away with the others on the shelves. There were two stairways that led to the second floor that followed a similar scene to that of the first floor. Straight ahead was an old man with a long beard and glasses sitting behind a desk. He was most likely the librarian. Wasting no time, Shin proceeded to make his way towards the librarian.

"How can I help you lad?" asked the old man as he adjusted his glasses with a flick of his index finger.

"Do you have books on magic?"

"My boy, we live in a world of magic. It would be idiotic not to have any books on magic. Anything in particular you are looking for?"

"Takeover magic."

"Ah, takeover magic huh," the librarian thought to himself as he stroked his beard, "check the second floor, shelf 21. There won't be many books about takeover but whatever is written will be up there."

"Thanks," Shin responded with a slight nod of his head. Turning his back to the librarian, he walked towards the stairs and made his way up with Gastly following closely behind. Shelf 21 was the first shelf to the right of the stairs. Walking beside the shelf, it did not take long for him to locate whatever books there were regarding takeover. In particular, there were only three that implicitly stated takeover on the cover. Grabbing these three books, Shin made his over to an empty table and took a seat.

The title was engraved into the red cover of the book in a elegant silver. The pages were slightly worn out providing a sense of age. Compared to the other two books, it had the fewest pages. As long as it provided information though, it would be fine. Flipping over the page, Shin began to read.

The introduction began with a definition of what takeover was followed by the four known types: Animal, Beast, Demon, and God Soul. They were ranked by rarity as opposed to strength. Any one could be used to its utmost potential given the vessel, as the book put it, was capable of doing so. The introduction further gave information about the partnership between the entity and its vessel.


This put things into perspective. If Shin was not capable of controlling whatever entity he were to meet, it would hold complete control over him whenever he were to utilize takeover. However, it was more of a mutual symbiotic relationship. The entity would have a body to act through while giving its vessel access to its power. Essentially, it was a relationship where both the vessel and entity gained benefits. Finishing up with the last bit of the introduction, the book moved onto elaborate and provide information about the four types. The passages for each was rather short but held some key information.





With that, Shin closed the book and set it aside. Digesting the information, the book served as an excellent starting point. It described what each takeover soul was capable of and gave him an understanding of how takeover worked. However, the book failed to mention how one obtained any of the souls. That was what he was more interested in than anything. With a brief moment of rest, Shin grabbed the second book and began reading.

Upon reading the first few paragraphs of the introduction, it was established this book would be focusing on Demon Soul takeover. Considering his interest was towards the two rarer forms of takeover, this book would hopefully provide answers to his question; in particular how to obtain such a form. With a flip of the page, he began to skim through the different sections of the book with the aim of finding information that would be of use.


Running his finger through the sentence, he paused as he reached the final period. Thinking back to his conversation with Lucifer in Hargeon, he mentioned something similar. His parents were heavy worshipers of the devil and thus, the various rituals they performed must have caught the attention of the devil. Although his story sounded false, it matched the description offered by the passage in the book. It was unknown whether longer periods of worshiping had a greater chance of attracting a demon. If Shin was to begin praying to some random demon at this very moment, would he have obtain the power of a demon? With the thought in mind, he looked down at the book and resumed reading.


Closing the book, he set is atop the first book. He rest his back against the chair as he looked up at the lantern above. Although God Soul had initially peaked his interest towards takeover magic, Demon Soul was also enticing. Compiling all the information he had gathered through reading, Demon Soul takeover was a power to be reckoned with. His discussion with Lucifer further strengthened the apparent power this form of takeover possessed. However, obtaining the attention of a demon appeared to be the problem. It seemed acquiring the attention of a demon required time yet Shin had very little of it. He would much rather go about it the easy way.

Closing his eyes, he took a moment to let the information flow through his mind before sighing. There no point in rushing to conclusions. There was one last remaining book that required reading. Grasping the book in his hand, he lifted it towards him. The golden hue of the book shone against the light of the lantern. Flipping the cover over, he delved into the contents of the final book.

As the title hinted, this book was about God Soul takeover. Of all the takeover forms listed, this was the one that intrigued him the most. It had been on his mind since hearing of it from Lucifer. Gods were viewed as absolute beings; they had no imperfections and were worshiped by nearly all. Although gods are generally associated with being divine creatures, there are those that are affiliated with darkness.


Shin took a moment to read over this sentence a few times. The word that stood out from the excerpt was immune. To be immune to an element was something he could have never dreamed of. Such a power was unheard of. To possess the power of immunity sent chills down his spine. Was this the power he craved? If he was to obtain the power of a god affiliated with the element of fire, it would make him impervious to flames. He would be just that, a god.


Flipping the page over, Shin's eyes widened for a moment. There were several runes of ancient languages pictured throughout various pages. Each rune corresponded to a letter. Similarly, there were names of several gods scribbled through the pages. The gods each possessed a different name and elemental affinity. Setting the book atop the table, Shin thought to himself. Potentially, these runes could work for contacting a demon. If it were to work for a god, there was no reason to believe it would not work in coming into contact with a demon. Returning his gaze to the book, he began to skim over the remaining pages.

Several minutes later, Shin returned to the runes he had stumbled across earlier. Of the names scribbled down, the god that matched his elemental affinity was Hephaestus, a mouthful to say the least. Closing the book, he lifted himself from his seat and took the golden book down with him. After searching for answers for quite some time, he had finally come to a satisfaction. He would need to see for himself whether these runes would work or not. There was little to no harm into attempting to do so. If anything, he was oh so close to obtaining a powerful magic for himself. There were just a few hurdles he needed to clear but this was the beginning of a new age.