They stood before the looming doors.
Massive. Intimidating. Slightly overcompensating. Even the girls had stopped bickering.
Finn stared up at them and audibly gulped. "I feel like something not fun lies behind this door."
Arsenio stepped forward, arms behind his back like a funeral tour guide.
"We now stand before the Great Library of Knowledge." He paused dramatically. "Just a warning… the other wizards inside can be a bit… territorial."
"Territorial how?" Finn raised a brow. "Do they pee on the books?"
"They'll be astonished by my beauty and honored by my presence," Majestria cut in, striding forward with her chin held high like she was about to walk a red carpet.
Finn looked at her. Then at Arsenio. "So why are we going through here if they hate outsiders? Can't the magic balcony just take us to the top?"
"The balcony only goes so high," Arsenio replied curtly.
Finn tilted his head. "But you're a grand wizard, aren't you?"
"I am."
"Then why not use your magic to make it go higher?"
"BECAUSE—shut up and let's go in already!" Arsenio barked, slapping his hands against the doors and pushing them open.
The massive wooden doors creaked apart with ancient groans, revealing the Library of Knowledge inside.
The trio followed Arsenio in, all eyes instantly on them.
It was huge. The library towered upward endlessly, its walls lined with bookshelves packed tight with dusty tomes, mysterious scrolls, and probably at least one cursed coloring book. A massive spiral staircase hugged the outer wall, stretching toward the tower's heights like it was taunting the idea of leg day. In the center stood a giant stained-glass window depicting a wizard with arms raised to the sky like he'd just cleared a Elder Souls boss and was basking in the sun.
Dozens of robed wizards filled the room—some floating midair, others seated and chatting, a few reading while upside down for no reason whatsoever.
All wore the same shade of blue, some bearded, some bare-faced, all visibly younger than Arsenio.
And all had turned to stare.
Not with curiosity.
With disgust.
You could almost hear the collective "ew."
"Do not mind them," Arsenio said with a forced smile, gesturing toward the trio. "They are under my wing. Like fledglings. Disappointing, sad fledglings."
Majestria and the elf both took in the enormous library, their heads slowly swiveling to take in the book-lined walls and floating nerds in robes.
Majestria narrowed her eyes, unsure whether she was flattered or offended by the way the wizards were eyeing her.
Mostly offended. Probably.
Then Finn noticed the spiraling staircase that twisted endlessly upward like some evil fitness test.
He pointed at it, already tired. "Wait… we're supposed to walk up all that?"
"Why of course," Arsenio said with an infuriatingly soft smile, placing a hand on Finn's shoulder.
'Grand Wizard My-Balls…' Finn stared at him with dead dread in his eyes.
Then—
"Watch where you stare, false mage!" a voice thundered from above.
Finn and Arsenio turned, and Finn immediately felt his soul try to escape his body.
"Dear god…" he whispered.
Floating above Majestria, with arms crossed and a holier-than-thou sneer, was a younger wizard. His cloak fluttered with dramatic wind that no one else could feel.
"Thou claimest to be a mage, yet thy hands hold no staff, nor can thou recite the alphabet backwards," the wizard scoffed, chuckling as he gestured at Majestria with his thumb.
Another voice called out, "Even the pointy-eared girl has a staff! And less mana!" The whole room burst into laughter.
Finn wiped a tear from his eye. "My god… they're racist wizards… Maybe this world isn't so bad."
"Oh, yeah?!" Majestria snapped, eyes glowing, fists clenched. "Bold words from some floating incel mocking a literal goddess!"
Laughter exploded again.
The smug wizard held his stomach as he laughed. "A goddess, thou claimest? Yet thou can't even fly up to me! Is this arrogance, or merely… stupidity?"
The elf panicked and slowly backed away from Majestria, inching toward Finn like a mouse avoiding a live grenade.
But Majestria's gaze snapped to Finn like a laser sight. "Do something! I am your party leader! Defend me!"
'You manipulative, backstabbing—' Finn grumbled internally.
The wizards turned to him now, eyes narrowing.
"This man is your… companion?" the lead wizard asked, barely concealing his amusement.
"Yes!" Majestria declared, not even blinking.
'Oh no.'
"This one holds no mana," the wizard said, squinting at Finn like a disappointing science project. "And he follows a woman with more meat than brain! Hark! They bring two buffoons and an elf whose staff looks like a—well, never mind!"
The entire room shook with laughter again.
Arsenio looked like he wanted to evaporate. The elf looked like she wanted to grind against the bookshelf to escape. Majestria looked seconds away from nuclear detonation.
And Finn?
Finn was pissed.
He could handle the insults.
The mockery.
Even the "buffoon" thing.
But they disrespected sword users.
Back on Earth, when he wasn't busy failing college or playing gacha games, he always picked the sword class in RPGs. No range. No frills. Just raw steel and vibes.
His fists clenched. "You're a grown-ass man floating in the air, throwing spells like a child playing wizard in his mom's bathrobe."
Silence.
Every wizard froze.
The elf gasped. Majestria blinked. Arsenio's soul left his body.
The smug wizard scowled. "Who do—"
"You run out of mana and cry. Spellcasters are only brave until they're out of juice. Try lifting anything heavier than your wand, you floaty fraud!"
"You DARE mock us!?" the wizard bellowed, raising his staff. "I, Eg—"
SLAM.
Everyone froze.
The wizard tripped mid-air and face-planted into the stone floor.
Finn's arm was still outstretched, fingers twitching slightly from the Trip God Technique.
Silence.
Majestria blinked, then strutted toward Finn with a smug smile. "Hmph. That'll teach them. Good job, Finn!"
The elf was wide-eyed. "W-What did you do? That was incredible!"
Arsenio's jaw practically unhinged. "Do you even know who you just tripped?!"
Finn shrugged. "All I know is I made that bastard eat floor."
"You just defeated the heir guardian of this tower!" Arsenio shrieked.
Finn's eyes widened.
"…Oh."