Dark History
“This secret was hidden so carefully. I’m growing more and more interested.” Following the map, Leylin arrived in front of the capital’s library.
The library was in the central district, a place mostly visited by nobles. In an era where the passage of information was strictly regulated, the so called public library actually only catered to a few high-ranked people like scholars and wizards. Leylin was a frequent visitor, to the point that even the doorman recognised him.
“Mister Leylin!” He called out sweetly, not surprised at all at Leylin’s arrival. Leylin had frequented this place in the last two years, using it to augment his database on the World of Gods. With the various databases in the A.I. Chip having gradually been filled to completion and its foundations completed, his visits had also grown more infrequent.
The library was as tranquil as ever. The white marble building stood tall, seemingly eternal, and the only sounds within it were the rustling of turning pages.
The interior of the library was very spacious and empty. Next to the rows upon rows of bookshelves were a few rattan seats, where many scholars rested.
In these two years, some had become acquaintances that Leylin was on nodding terms with. They would nod at him if they caught his eye, before bending their heads down and wading into the sea of knowledge again. Everyone quietly did their own work, and Leylin loved this atmosphere.
‘I never expected that something I’ve been trying hard to find was right by my side!’ Leylin sighed inside, arriving in the deeper parts of the library.
It was rather dim inside, and many of the tomes on the shelves had already fallen apart. Numerous scattered pages were sandwiched in worn-out book covers. The sight already left people dizzy.
While the area had already been tidied up, a putrid smell from printing ink still lingered in the air. This region was where the library piled up random books and documents, and very few ventured here.
‘The results of only passing on knowledge to the elites means that once society collapses, information can no longer be passed on…’ Leylin looked at the thick layer of dust on the shelf and sighed at the thought. Of all the historic records that he had gathered, from the invasion from the Magus World till now, there were many blanks in the middle. This was the result of a loss of culture.
Descriptions of the dawn of the gods was a taboo amongst taboos. If any scholar dared tread on this forbidden zone, they would end up put on trial by large churches and burnt at stake.
‘Trying to conceal it won’t solve anything. Even rank 1 Magi of the Magus World know already about the ancient Final War, and have been working hard to regain the glory of the ancient times. The World of Gods is more conservative… Is it because the World Will is asleep, or is it a restriction on the gods?’
Leylin’s eyes shone as he arrived at the depths of the library. This was a very remote area where it was exceptionally quiet. Not a soul was in sight, and even the cleaners rarely came here.
“Not bad, not bad! That saves me a lot of trouble.” Leylin sized up the surroundings, nodding in satisfaction. A transparent magic barrier isolated this place from the outer world. Just in case, Leylin had added a layer of illusion such that anyone who came here would only see a mess and darkness, with volumes and trash lying around.
“The immemorial elf of spring…” Leylin slowly chanted a passage of a mysterious incantation. This was something he had obtained from the map, where the secret incantation to activate it was hidden in the poem next to the map.
‘They actually use the Mek Coding which has been lost to history, hiding the secret incantation at the beginning of every line. If not for the A.I. Chip analysing it against a sea of data, it would have been impossible to decode it…
‘There’s even a restricted time where it can be opened. It has to be after the ancient ‘Spring Sacrificial Ceremony’, or there won’t be a response. Why do I find this method so familiar…’ Leylin looked at the changes to his surroundings with interest. This method of maintaining secrecy and such elaborate set-ups reminded Leylin of Magi.
Indeed, Magi! Only they, who pursued the truth with the most extreme of harshness could think of something so intricate, with coding and an incantation that was complicated to the extreme. It only served to further his anticipation.
“This is the beginning of spring, and the ceremony just passed. It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and it matches with the poem, ‘The scorching sun travels to the northern corner of the sky’…” Leylin muttered, eyes glinting.
A specific time, place and secret incantation. With these three requirements fulfilled, an ancient bookshelf suddenly creaked.
‘It’s not a magic formation. I didn’t notice anything when I scanned this place earlier. Such concealment techniques…’ The glint in Leylin’s eyes brightened.
The shelf shifted away, revealing a path that led downwards. However, Leylin did not descend.
‘If I didn’t interpret it wrongly, I’ll only enter a dimensional maze if I go there. Even high-ranked wizards could die there… The real treasure is here.’ Leylin headed to the shelf that had shifted, a spell formation appearing at his fingertips.
This was not a spell model of the Weave used by wizards, but a real, higher-grade model similar to that in the Magus World! Countless rays of light fused together like a loop to form a special three dimensional rune.
“In the name of sklngla, open!” Leylin chanted. The spell model in his hands flashed and disappeared into the shelf. The light quickly dimmed, and nothing changed. However, a hint of delight showed on his expression. He knocked at the back of the shelf, and a hollow sound resounded.
“The solid wooden shelf became hollow…” Leylin mumbled to himself, “The item wasn’t actually hidden here but in another void node. Only at certain times with the correct incantation will it link with space and time in order to show the true treasure…”
His expression constantly changed, “Such a method of overlapping space and time is practically a reproduction of methods in the Magus World!”
Slightly agitated, Leylin used the dagger to slash at the shelf to take the treasure that his predecessor had hidden. At this stage, he was certain that Siegfried had never come here and only been lucky to get the map.
The shelf itself was small. Even though it was hollow, only a thick black book made of parchment paper was there. This was the harvest from Leylin’s exploration.
“I sense… an aura similar to Magi… There must have been Magi who comprehended laws conducting experiments here trying to induct Magi into the natives…” Leylin was in no hurry to begin reading. After verifying it was harmless, he immediately kept it in his bag of holding and quickly began to clear the traces of his presence.
After he left the library, the shelf had been silently shifted back to its original position. Even the wooden planks that had been hollowed out were exchanged.
Once he had returned to his residence, he sent the servants away and went to his underground secret room. After activating his protection spell formation, Leylin made himself a hot cup of tea and began to look through his profits this time.
Past the black cover, much of the parchment paper had rotted. There were strange, twisted letters on it, with a unique air to them.
“It’s the Amidix Script used in ancient times! Thankfully, I’ve seen content on this before… The A.I. Chip already has enough data to analyse it…” Leylin began to interpret the words in the book.
‘The stars in the horizon are falling! I… I’ve seen the falling meteors when a true god dies! They are a group of powerful gods from another world. They call themselves… Magi!’
“Is this a record by natives of the final war? Interesting, interesting!” Leylin read on.
‘The sky is crying, the earth is wailing… The continent is in pieces in an instant. After the paramount high gods sank into slumber, the battle god Ares and Mother Earth fell one after another…’
‘The Magi and the gods brazenly showed their strength. A careless attack seemed to consume what had accumulated in the universe over millions of years…’
As so much time had passed, there was still damage despite the perfect protective methods. It made it more difficult for Leylin to interpret.
‘… In the dark era… A god from another world descended. It called itself the Distorted Shadow, a great rank 8 Magus!’
‘The Distorted Shadow enlightened humans and imparted great power of magic…’
“The gods all sent down their avatars, ruthlessly killing all who had inherited the power of distortions…’
“The rejection by the world eventually caused the fall of the Distorted Shadow…”
The gods finally defeated the Magi and sealed off the World of Gods, establishing a network to fend against magic to prevent something similar from happening again…”
‘Year 327 of the Dark Calendar. Another generation of people with extraordinary powers emerged. They successfully went through experiments to break away from the Weave, and called themselves arcanists. They had powerful arcane arts that allowed them to burn mountains and fill seas. Even the gods feared them…’
‘Year 981 of the Dark Calendar. The Arcane Empire was destroyed, and thus began the age of the gods… Arcanists became taboo. Any spellcasters who did not use the Weave were listed as wanted and annihilated by the churches of various gods…’
Eventually, the dark history of the gods showed itself before Leylin.
“As expected, experiments to make Magi natives were conducted before, and they succeeded as well… All during the dusk of the gods.” The rise of the arcanists evidently was a result of this. Those obscure methods to cast spells were a mutated version of spell models from the Magus World.
“It’s far too troublesome to simulate a profession out of nowhere. Even with the A.I. Chip it’ll take a long time. But if I can get an arcanist’s inheritance…”