Chapter 87: Chapter 87
After Zixin completed the application, an old man came to fetch him. The old man had a scent of books like he himself was a book from ancient times. His hair and long beard were completely white and his eyes were cloudy yet filled with knowledge and wisdom. It was like the old man was a walking library.
"Zixin...follow me." said the old man before walking away and because no one knew the old man, his appearance didn’t cause a commotion. The old man entered the elevator and pressed the number "7" and the elevator moved to the seventh floor.
On the seventh floor, it was just a long hallway with many doors. Zixin couldn’t even see the end of the hallway because of how long it was. The old man just opened the door closest to him and entered and Zixin followed behind. The room wasn’t that big, beautifully painted and decorated with flowers and statues. At the centre was a table and two chairs.
The old man sat opposite to Zixin and started to talk, his voice was hoarse, loud and clear.
"My name is Melvic Gynnx and I’ll be your assessor. What’s your name?" asked Melvic.
"Zixin, how many languages do you know exactly?"
"And how many languages can you read and write?"
Melvic didn’t speak the same language twice and Zixin would automatically answer in the language being spoken to with. He didn’t know how he got this ability but it probably came with his transformation, at least, that’s what he thought.
Melvic kept asking Zixin random questions and whether or not Zixin was answering them correctly, only he knew. He then took out a thick book and pushed it towards Zixin.
"Read the title of this book," he commanded. Zixin looked at the letters and instantly understood them.
"Archive of the Gloxiamias Empire."
"And this one?" he placed another book on top of the first one.
"Journey of a thousand lifetimes."
Melvic kept placing books on top of each other and with each book Zixin read correctly, the cloudiness in his eyes slowly disappeared and his eyes were beginning to glow. When his cloudiness completely disappeared, Melvic didn’t produce any books, instead, he contemplated for a while. Zixin didn’t say anything and just waited patiently.
Finally, Melvic produced a thin book with no more than ten pages. Each page only had a single word or letter, a jumbled up writing like it was written by a one year old.
"Read this book for me," he said calmly. Zixin took the book that didn’t have a title and started to read.
"I." As soon as he uttered the first letter, the world seemed to freeze, Mana churned as though it had gone berserk.
"Forgotten." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝙣𝙚𝙩
Zixin didn’t notice any changes in the environment and continued to read each letter of the book but just because he didn’t notice anything didn’t mean nothing was happening. Dark clouds had gathered above Wulliz City and spread even beyond just this place. Mana had become something that none could manipulate, like it had been woken up by Zixin’s words.
Somewhere far far away, in a place where none could set foot in, a place that couldn’t be found no matter how long you looked for it. In this place, an Entity slept here. This Entity was chained by thick chains carved with runes. This Entity was covered in shimmering purple scales, four sharp claws, a long tail, a long neck with a head full of horns and three pairs of wings. This Entity had four eyes, all currently closed as it was in deep sleep.
It was sleeping peacefully when suddenly, one of its eyes slowly opened and the act of opening its eyes was so...magical. A vertical reptilian pupil gazed upon the world. The eye seemed to contain an entire universe and all its secrets.
"Someone...is...calling...out...to me. Say...my...name..."
ROOOOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!!!
Zixin was disturbed by a roar so loud that it shook the very fabrics of space and time. Shook the lands, sky and sea, shook the entire Nilrem World. When Zixin looked up, Melvic was bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. He also looked extremely old and full of wrinkles.
"Are you okay?!" asked Zixin in panic. Melvic didn’t answer immediately but slowly wiped away the blood from his mouth and nose. Then he took out a black gold token and gave it to Zixin.
"I now pass on my duty as a Venerable Librarian to you. No library shall close its doors to you but you must be careful. There are those who seek us Labyrinths Of Knowledge to absorb our knowledge. Tread this path carefully!" said Melvic before disappearing.
When Zixin took the token, it pricked him then turned into a bronze ring with the words librarian written on it. He then stood up and left, unaware of the commotion he’d caused.
When he returned to the reception, everyone was unconscious and he rushed to wake Robert up.
’Was this caused by the roar I just heard?’ he thought. Fortunately, Robert and everyone else were just unconscious. Not like Melvic who bled from all orifices. What Zixin didn’t know was that it wasn’t just people here who were unconscious but everyone in the Nirlrem World was conscious. The strong beings on the same level as Melvic took the shortest time to wake up and they’d suffered some internal injuries.
"System, what exactly was that roar? It was powerful enough to even injure someone like me?!"
[Host, I also don’t know what that was but it was extremely powerful, far beyond your comprehension!! But if I were to guess, I think that was an Echo from the past.]
"An Echo from the past? But why is it so strong?! I’ve already reached the peak of the Nirlrem World, you said so yourself! How the fuck is there something stronger than a Sky Djinn. On par with the Elder Dragons!"
[Host, I made a mistake. It seems you haven’t reached the peak of power. I’m the one who’s reached the limit of my capabilities.]
"Does this mean you need another upgrade or what?"
[No, I’m truly at my limit. Even if I devour other systems, it won’t change anything. Host, you’ll have to rely on yourself to reach the next realm of power.]