I was suddenly attacked by a sudden bright flash that caused me to wriggle in my half asleep state, turning away from the light.
I could faintly hear the voice of a woman saying, "Young lord it's time to wake."
"Ughh.." I groaned as I forced myself to sit up looking at the blue eyed maid who had just finished tying the curtains to the pillars.
"It is time for breakfast young lord, Sir and Madam are waiting in the dining area."
"Understood."
The maid had clothes folded over her arm as she looked at me get off the bed onto my feet.
"I can change myself today."
"But young lo-"
"Please, I'm much more used to it."
The maid nodded her head reluctantly as she left the clothes neatly on the bed, before walking out of the room with a bow.
As soon as the door shut I sat on my bed.
"Huaa" I let out a yawn before closing my lips making a humming sound.
As my arms stretched out I closed my eyes.
'System show me my class ability.'
[Class Ability
Shelf Of Memory(S)
A library of memories organised into shelves at the user's
Discretion.]
"The names still a bit..awkward." I mumbled to myself.
Having a theory I wanted to test out I tilted my head and asked.
'System could you activate this ability?'
The system immediately did as asked and activated the ability.
For a moment my entire world went white before pillars that looked like they were painted vantablack sprouted out of the ground. Covering the pillars were what looked like silver engravings that were in a language I had no knowledge of. The floors looked like a chess board with a chequered black and silver pattern. And then the most magical part to me were the books that floated in the air and the shelves that were up there with them just levitating without any order. The library itself had no roof so the pillars, books and shelves reached god knows where.
As I walked I decided to call out in this ethereal ground.
"System!"
However, all I was met with was silence.
"So I was right.."
I remember the explanation of the previous user of the ability, Owen. The library itself is a place separated from the boundaries of time and space that is the normal world. It almost…kidnaps your consciousness in a way, so the system who is only able to read the thoughts I direct to it would have no way of following my consciousness.
But even then I remember there's still one more 'surprise' coming my way.
"My..my how interesting.'' I heard a grainy voice that sounded like it came from an abyss behind me.
I turned my head towards it seeing a man with long dark green hair and bright red eyes looking at me. He wore what I think was called a shenyi or a hanfu. It was completely black with a few red roses as floral patterns.
He was the surprise guest I was expecting, the true librarian. Owen described the ability more so as having a library card rather than the library itself. This was because there was a man who had true control over the library, a man that existed for god knows how long.
I jumped back cause I didn't expect him to be so close behind me.
As I fell on my ass I saw him in his entirety sitting cross legged on a floating book.
"You aren't meant to have this are you..?" He leaned his chin on the palm of his hand.
My eyes widened as I heard his question.
'How did he know..'
"From the look on your face you're probably wondering how I knew right?" He raised a brow slightly as he smirked.
"..."
"The boy meant to have this was named Owen Rochester, a blonde haired blue eyed..human."
"..."
"You don't have blonde hair, blue eyes, nor are you a human."
"I'm Rohan Ruena, and you're correct I wasn't meant to have this ability."
"So…how did you get it?" He asked.
"I was forcefully reincarnated and given it."
I obviously left out a large amount of detail, cause I couldn't just tell him I learned about him and this ability through a game, but I also couldn't just lie because he could probably see through it.
"Godly intervention.." He scoffed as he jumped off the book to look at me.
As he stood I realised how humongous he truly was...I could only reach to his chest and not quite at his shoulders.
I asked him after I backed up, "So does this mean Owen or whatever won't get the ability?"
"Correct..but worry not he'll be properly compensated. He'll either be granted a different treasure, or class of equal value. Or maybe he'll be granted a large amount of talent in a different field."
"How?"
"Just as you were brought into the world, gods like to intervene in our ever so mortal plane. They adjust the odds and make their bets. So if the odds they themselves set, had been interfered with they'll make their own alterations to make sure things go their way."
I had no knowledge of this, maybe because Aureus had just reached the level of demi-god in my last playthrough. But, it all made sense, why each playthrough got harder, why things appeared out of nowhere, it was really because the gods themselves were against Aureus.
I thought back to the title Aureus received…
'Puppet of The Divine'
I felt an unexplainable rage in the moment, I had accepted that Purgatory wasn't a real game as soon as I appeared in the world, but never had I questioned how. How had I been called upon? How had I been granted these abilities and traits? How had the world of Purgatory been linked to my own? But to think it was all because of these beings that called themselves gods…It was almost comedic. I spent endless days and sleepless nights to save Aureus…to save this doomed world, only to realise it was the gods that were driving it to ruin?
Just as rage began to consume me I felt a tight grips on my shoulders caused by the man before me who was glaring into my very being with eyes as sharp as a blade.
"Conduct yourself properly…this is a library."
I bowed my head saying, "I apologise."
He took his hands off before returning to his usual smirk and his light hearted gaze.
"Now…while it was a shock it isn't a negative. You're more suitable than even that Rochester boy. With the mind of a dragon's and the adaptability of a spirits and the healing factor of whatever else you're made of, you're a sponge mentally and physically."
"What does having a sponge have to do with anything?"
"Don't you know? The key aspect of this library is that it's filled with the memories of all it's former users."
'Wait..this was a legacy class?'
Legacy classes operated differently than normal unique classes. While both could only be acquired by one person at a time, the difference was that a legacy class stored the information and or skills of it's previous users. And then it was passed on to the next user. While Owen did say the library helped him store and access information he never mentioned this..
And since it was a hidden feature I guess the system didn't know about it either.
"How perfect." I couldn't help but mumble under my breath.
"However, I should mention you're too weak to access a majority of the books"
"Oh there's a rune limit?"
This world like the ones in many stories used symbols as their scaling system for magic. It was decided by the amount of runes one had engraved on their heart. I think one grows in runes by enhancing the amount of mana they could control and the strength of their control. For example, if one could compress mana that would naturally be the size of a cloud into the size of a basketball they'd be at their 4th rune.
The highest level the humans of this world have currently reached is the 11th rune, my father having reached the 10th alongside one of the other dukes, the king, and the headmaster of the school. The only person who's reached the 11th is currently incapacitated and will be so for a while.
"Each floor of the library will be unlocked per every rune you acquire."
"Oh is that why there's no ceiling?"
"No that's because, that was your preference"
"What?"
"The library is designed by the ability's user."
"Ohhhh that explains the silver I guess.."
Owen's library was described as more vintage and antique, made with wood and a bit of copper here and there.
"The books from previous owners start on the second floor, while the first floor is designated to books created by the current host."
"Wait..so to access the inheritance of even the lowest level mana is required?"
"Mhm, exactly so."
That explains why Owen didn't know about the legacy feature, Owen had a unique constitution. He had no mana flowing through his body, it wasn't that he had a blocked mana circuit or even a broken one, he just had none. He was about as strong as somebody from my world would be at his age which is sickly weak in this world. But, in return he was intelligent, more than anybody else. He was so intelligent that in the second year of the academy after he started gaining some recognition, he helped Aureus beat the boss in that part of the story. He commanded every student, and even the teachers who would listen and created an opportunity for Aureus to strike down the boss, it was like watching a chess game as a pawn. And that was before he got the library ability.
"Though…while you have the mana of a second circle you haven't constructed a rune yet so you can't quite access the lowest level books."
"I thought all I needed was mana?"
I believed the only reason a rune was required is that humans require runes to store mana.
"That's certainly a major part of it, but that's as efficient as trying to use a metal block to unlock a door. You need to mould it into a key before it can work as one. Raw mana is far too uncontrolled to "
"That makes sense I guess. But I do need to come out with something."
"Hmm why is that?"
"Well there's a certain parasite that might devour me whole if it gets suspicious"
"Are you talking about a Ziat?"
"Huh?"
"Ziats they're the thing that latch onto people, and use the lifeforce of things their hosts kill to 'enhance' the host until it devours the host."
"Wait…how do you know about them and they're called Ziats?"
In the ruins Aureus found near the end of run 90 only described the method on how to detach the parasite, nothing about its true name or origins.
"Well there's only one thing I can think of when I hear the word parasite. And yes Ziats is the name they were called back when they first appeared, but they do have another name. Whispers of Temptation.. Like you they come from another world, a world much more advanced than this one. Using the form of something called..a system?"
"Wait did god bring them in too?"
"You're correct, a god brought them here, well brought one. The purpose was to enhance the person that he chose as an avatar, but the parasite devoured the avatar and ascended to the level of a demi-god. After doing that the parasite turned demi-god separated, making thousands of versions of itself. However, the parasites were rash and acted very recklessly, allowing themselves to be found and massacred, Though only after causing a massacre of their own. With the promise of power causing humans to kill each other to obtain new abilities and otherworldly strength. But…this was millions of years ago before the concept of current civilization was even thought of. The Ziats still exist?"
"Well…only one should and it belongs to a boy called Aureus."
"Aureus…the Warlock of End?"
"Do you know of him?"
I was unfamiliar with the title, but if anybody would have that title it would be him.
"Yes I do actually. One of the previous users of the library was a prophet, and he prophesied the end of the world about 165 different times. And in each of those prophecies the last remaining person was Aureus."
"Wait…"
That number..
"165?! Like you're sure it was 165?"
"Yes…I'm certain, why?"
That's the number of runs I had in the game. What the hell is going on in this world?
"Are you okay child?"
I could feel the librarian's gaze on me snapping me out of my thoughts.
I nodded my head, "I'm perfectly fine…but which floor is the prophet's book on?"
"The 9th floor."
"So around the 8th rune."
"Correct."
So I wouldn't be able to read the prophecies for a while anyways. I guess I should just get back to what I was saying.
"This might be a big ask but is it possible for you to make a fake book of memories?"
"I see what you're trying to do..Alright I can do that."
The librarian snapped his fingers as pages started gathering, organising themselves in a book-like fashion. After the pages were finished a leather cover formed on the outside making it look like an actual book.
"So, what would you like in this book?"
"Let's go with the story that I'm a test subject that was mixed with the DNA of different organisms but my original form was that of a spirit. And that I was rescued by a couple who I then lived in the woods with, but a few years after, they were killed by a pack of wolves."
"While that has a few gaps I think I can fix it up a little."
The book opened up as a quill appeared in the librarian's hand. The quill smoothly flew across the pages that kept flipping until it stopped and the book was shut.
"There you go, the life of Rohan Ruena"
He tossed the book to me, who barely caught it. I flipped through and skimmed the pages.
"Amazing.."
"Don't flatter me too much now.." The red eyed librarian said as he started floating in the air upside down.
"Whats your name sir?"
"Hmm…call me Min"
I nodded my head.
"By the way how do I cancel the skill?"
"Oh I'll take care of that for you. Also, please remember you can contact me outside of the library!"
"Ho-"
As soon as the sound of snap entered my ears I was already back on my bed.
If I remember correctly, although I was in there for about 30 minutes less than a second should have passed out here.
I looked at the book in my hand that was labelled "Life of Rohan Ruena".
I flipped through to make sure the contents were the same, taking my time to flip through the pages about my "rescuers".
"I miss you.." I said as I caressed the page that mentioned their death making sure to bite the top part of my bottom lip.
'That should've sold it right?'
[Host?] The robotic voice was just on time.
"Oh sorry" I shut the book, placing it under my pillow before jumping off my bed.
I took off my clothes looking at my muscles that looked strangely different than what I remember them to be before.
"System how tall am I?"
[Around 178 centimetres, host]
'For 14 years old that isn't bad.'
For now I should figure out where I am in the story.
"What month is it?"
[The month of the six moons]
This world like the modern one, uses a 12 month system but is slightly different. Every month a new moon appears in the sky at night. January would be the month where theres 1 moon and december would be 12 moons.
'So around June.'
The game started on the first day of the academy but if I remember the background correctly which I do, Aureus gets rescued from the woods during the month of 12 moons this year, and he gets his system during the month of 11 moons.
The academy itself starts during the month of 3 moons. So I have 9 months to train.
'In that case..'
"System show me all my skills and abilities"
[Understood]
[Abilities: Draconic Eyes(Ex), Draconic Heart(Ex), Draconic Circuit(Ex), Draconic Tongue(Ex), Draconic Scales(Ex), Draconic…, Spirit Adaptation(Ex), Spirit intangibility(B+), Spirit Sight(SS), Elemental Form, (S), Spirit…, Regeneration (Ex), Camouflage (B), Breathing (A), Water-breathing (A), Swimming (A), Sensory Boost (S)...Shelf of Memory (S), Merge (S), Crowned Grace (EX-), Swordsmanship (C)
Skills: Horizontal Swing (D), Vertical Swing (D), Diagonal Swing (D), Block (E), Parry (E), Basic Footwork (E), Reading (F), Translation (F), Sword Breath (D), Memorise (B)...]
As I slipped on a white dress shirt with a black vest and pants I looked through all my skills.
'Although I have enough abilities to cause worldwide panic Aureus would still kick my ass…how funny.'
It was true Aureus was a different breed of talented. He could learn the structure of most magic spells just by hearing about them, and if he couldn't as soon as he was hit with one he would understand how it worked. It definitely helped that he had an affinity for every element either. And that's not to mention his ability that allows him to peer into the memories of the dead that would allow him to gain the knowledge and experience he'd be lacking due to age.
I let out a sigh as I tried to figure out possible combinations.
'This might be stupid but…'
"System merge Swordsmanship and Draconic Circuit"
[Understood]
Just in case I put my forearm in my mouth to bite down on in case of potential pain. And thank god I did.
As soon as the words understood was processed by my brain an otherworldly pain permeated my body. It felt like a needle was being poked in and out of my body rearranging my veins and nerves like a sewing needle. I collapsed onto a knee as sweat dripped down my face onto the floor.
I bit down on my arm so hard that my canines had punctured my skin and blood dripped down my arm. I could feel a liquid dripping down my face, and it kept going until the pain eventually died down.
I looked at the mirror to see the liquid wasn't normal tears but rather tears made of my own blood. I looked like a mess covered in sweat with blood dripping down my face and arm. I waited for the holes in my arm to close before I changed my shirt and pants.
"System what were the results"
[Sword Circulation (S):
The user lives and dies by the sword, even the blood that flows through them flows for the sword.]
I figured as such…although the Draconic Circuit ability affects
the way mana flows, the swordsmanship ability as I assumed changed the way my muscles were in order to be perfect for swordsmanship. So I guess the merge took the circulation aspect of the Draconic Circuit and the more physical aspect of the Swordsmanship skills and combined them into one so that the way my blood circulates itself would be perfect for swordsmanship.
After catching my breath I opened my mouth.
"System show me the descriptions for Draconic Eyes and Spirit Sight."
[Draconic Eyes (EX):
Allows the user to see past the physical coils that binds them
and into the depths of the mystical bodies.
Spirit Sight (SS):
User can see those that would otherwise be hidden]
My curiosity couldn't be satisfied with the vague description so I pinched my brows.
"System activate spirit sight."
I looked at the mirror as my eyes flashed an otherworldly colour for a moment.
[Activated]
I turned my head around to see nothing of interest, just my room. I walked to the window and looked out to see a grotesque sight.
'Ghosts..'
Bodies of black plasma walked side by side with the humans walking in the town. In the forest covered in snow nearby there were a myriad of different human shaped bodies laid on the ground.
I don't think any words I could use could describe the grotesque feeling that filled me as I looked around and saw these things.
"System deactivate!" I said with a sense of urgency.
I covered my forehead in my hand as I thought. The bodies of plasma I described as ghosts were familiar to me since Aureus had to fight them for a section of the game. It was when he was fighting the physical embodiment of death if you will. I will say though spirit sight probably wasn't only limited to dead people it's just that the Ruena dukedom is symbolised by death. If I was correct I'd probably also be able to see things like sylphs and fairies, just outside this dukedom. Since in the game it's mentioned this Dukedom is covered in so much blood that it scares away nature spirits and such.
I forced myself to utter my next words to satiate my curiosity.
"Activate draconic eyes."
[Understood.]
In that same instant the world suddenly went completely white like a canvas there was no light and no darkness. Everything became outlined black like a pencil sketch. I could see through the walls and even the people had lost colour and were simply outlined in black.
"No…thats a lie."
There was a little colour in what appeared to be the hearts of the people.
"Mana.."
I could see the colour branched from their hearts throughout their bodies.
"I could see people's mana circuits.."
'That's probably not all."
I walked towards the outlined door and opened it before walking in the hallway.
As I walked and passed by I noticed something. As soon as I focused on a person there were multiple outlines of them. And one outline was slightly ahead. For example if the person was reaching their arm out, the slightly less thick outlines would do it before the thicker outline.
'I…was seeing their movement before they did it.'
But there were always multiple outlines from 2-7 usually. From what I got as I walked the halls the thicker the outline was the more probable it was. So the thickest outline is the present, and then the second thickest outline is the most probable future action of the person. And the less thick the line was the less likely the action was.
'It probably worked by assessing the mana flow of the person..'
I did say that runes were the only way for humans to store mana but that was a lie. Mana is a natural energy so it exists in everything living and non-living as proven by the fact even physical objects had black outlines. But runes are the only way for humans to store more mana and make it usable. For example, even without a rune I could use mana in the form of aura but humans can't do that.
So what draconic eyes probably did is assess the way the mana was flowing and use it to automatically form potential movement patterns.
I decided to deactivate the skill because I was starting to get dizzy and from what I remember when the skill was active the user's pupils would turn into slits like a snake. It creeped Aureus out when he first met his teacher.
As I walked to the entrance of the dinner table I heard the system's message that made a smile form on my face.
[Host you're eligible for a starter package]
'Finally..'
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Hey it's the author here, I just wanted to say sorry for not uploading a chapter for a whole I've been busy with exams and stuff but I'll upload from frequently from now on so enjoy.