I heard a laugh on the other end for a brief moment. “Quite right. Very well, I think I can manage that. Though I will still put the astral servants in place to tidy the library up for those that wish to browse casually.”
“I understand. About how big is the library now?”
“Let me check… it looks to be about one thousand meters long, and half as wide. You humans do keep a lot of books, it seems. Though, of course a great many are useless things like personal diaries or war records.”
I shook my head, thinking that those aren’t entirely useless to some people. “Okay, so if it does cover Heaven and Hell, it’s safe to say that the library itself will at least be as big as a small city when it’s done.”
“Oh, most definitely. Possibly much bigger, since it is all arranged on a single floor. I’ll just say that was a poorly planned detail on your part.” Again, his voice was amused, as if saying that he would have no doubt thought about it.
“Yes, yes. Well, it might be possible to modify the library itself after its finished, if something similar to the throne of Hell is installed to grant control of the library.”
“That… is not the kind of magic you should be messing with. Lilith has already warned you against researching the World Creation spell. The library itself is already dangerously close to breaching that agreement…”
I paused for a moment, noticing the hostility in his voice. “Okay.. sorry. Didn’t mean to imply anything like that.”
He took a moment to cool down, and then sighed. “No, it is fine. It is natural for you to think about such things, I guess. I will see about altering the layout after the library has been completed. Is there anything else you need?”
“No, that was all..” With that, the call ended rather abruptly. I shook my head back and forth, before setting my mind to the next task. I needed to create the teleport key to the library, and a few books for Dariel. Two entirely different spells, though the latter would be considerably easier.
This creation spell would only need a single layer, though multiple rings. The big difference between having multiple layers or rings was how much you wanted the spell to do at a single time. If each ring was considered a single instruction, then a spell with only one diagram could only do one thing at a time. Adding in a second layer allows it to perform multiple actions at once, but requires significantly higher concentration.
The first layer of this spell would merely search my mind for the book I wanted to make, basing it off of my memories and knowledge. It was similar in many respects to the typical method that my creation spells used to determine what I was making. Next, of course it had to gather my mana and actually create the object. Those were two separate rings, making it a three-ring spell in all.
Normally, I would be worried that the image in my mind would be too blurred, and cause the book to be illegible. However, perhaps because of my high Intelligence stat, I could recall many books with perfect clarity if I focused on them. It was possible that there would be a high Intelligence or Wisdom requirement to successfully cast this spell.
Reproduce Text has been added to your Spell List
Smiling, I glanced over the spell that I had just created, before closing my eyes and focusing. “Knowledge imparted upon me, I seek to impart upon another. Share the wisdom of ages, and pass into the heart of time.” First, I focused on the first enchanting book, which I had originally lost thanks to a dive in a pond.
The information from the book, as well as the diagrams and spells that came with it, flooded into my mind. The most difficult part of the process was organizing them as they had been originally, essentially arranging the pages in order. It was doubtful whether I’d be able to do this with a book I learned through Speed Reading, so I couldn’t recreate the Nature Magic book that Dariel had originally given me.
After a few minutes of sorting everything out in my head, I opened my eyes to see a new book lying in front of me. It appeared identical to the original enchanting book I had purchased, but just to be safe I read through it. Looks legible. Good, guess the spell works after all!
Of course, it was probably dumb luck that the spell worked that well the first time. My second book, which was the introduction to runes that the human Mage College supplies students, came out a garbled mess until the third time I tried it. It took five tries to get the advanced version, so I ended up burning a lot of worthless books.
In the end, I took out my intermediate and advanced enchanting books, and placed them with the beginner’s and advanced rune guides. That should be enough to help Dariel with her problem. Satisfied, I nodded inwardly, and was preparing to start on the next spell when the elf herself came into the home.
“Ah, still hard at work?” She smiled to me, then glanced over to Denise and Cynthia, who had long since passed out. Very likely, thanks to sheer boredom. Afterwards, her eyes turned to the five books laid out beside me. “Those are.. the ones for me?”
“Right, I just got done making them. I was about to work on the spell to get into the library when you showed up.”
Kneeling down, Dariel looked over the assortment of books, smiling as she did so. “These will help a lot, thank you. You really do just create a new spell any time you need one, don’t you?” I received a prompt indicating the completion of the quest when Dariel accepted the books.
“Kind of… yeah. It gives me something to do.” I smiled helplessly as I considered it.
“Well, might as well get some rest, you’ve been at this all day.” After she said that, I glanced out the ‘doorway’ to the tree and noticed the sun was starting to set. Have I really been in here that long?
“I see.. I guess the other spell can wait until tomorrow. It’s not like the library is going anywhere without me.”
Dariel laughed softly, and went to place a cover over the other two women. Due to the size of the place, they had already taken over the bed, so all that was left for the elf and I was the floor. Of course, I had slept on far worse before, but it was still not all that comfortable.
Chapter 20
The next day, when I awoke, I checked the progress on the Wisdom of Solomon. According to the information that appeared, it would need another nineteen hours to complete. That would give me plenty of time to create an item to enter the library, or so I was hoping. It won’t be that bad if it takes me a little longer.
Looking around, I saw that the three women were still fast asleep, so I headed out of the makeshift home to begin work. This time, I had a fairly specific task, and specific tends to be just as difficult as a general idea, if not more so. A general idea could be compared to a fireball, whereas a specific one would be using flame to write one’s name in the sky. Sure, both are fire, but one requires a lot more precision than the other.
What I was doing now would be a dimensional teleport, but it would have to have four steps. First was teleporting to the mark I placed in the library, the second was marking the point of departure. The third was teleporting back, and finally the fourth was to erase the marking. The first and third portions could be the same spell, whereas the second and fourth would require their own designs.
Since I wasn’t making this as an actual spell, but an enchantment to place on an item, I only had to work with one layer, however complicated. Unfortunately, with Dariel’s house filled to capacity, there was nowhere suitable for me to work nearby. Looking back, I considered waking one of them, to tell them where I was going. However, I decided against it, and walked instead to a nearby ledge.
Jumping would be a seriously bad move, since I haven’t created a flight spell yet. I also didn’t have any spells that would let me shape trees, so my only option was walking around the city to find somewhere suitable. It wasn’t like I could simply call up a Hellgate in front of everyone. Well, I could, but it probably wouldn’t turn out well.
Moving to the area where Dariel had first brought me up here, I glanced around and saw that it was vacant. That was good, since I wasn’t sure how big of a space
I would need to do this. Sitting down on the platform, I began contemplating the enchantment I would need to use this time.
I already knew the purposes of each function, it was just a matter of putting those functions into the same item. From the book that Levy had brought me, I learned that it was possible to put multiple spells into a single item using the same method as if the spell possessed multiple diagrams. The only difference was the patterns between the diagrams was changed to indicate where one spell stopped and another began.
Using this, I only needed to create the three spells; a single destination teleport, a marking, and an eraser for the marking. The first was along the same lines as a Hellgate, so it was fairly simple to come up with. I merely had to designate the target point as the symbol I designed, rather than another gate.
The second spell was a bit more complicated, as I had never worked with any magic to leave markings behind on anything other than earthen substances. It should be possible, however. I recall a relatively simple spell taught in the college which creates an invisible marking or design that can only be recognized through special forms of sight.
Sadly, I never paid too much attention to that spell, but it was taught in the beginner classes. That meant that it was, at most, a single ring spell. Searching my knowledge of runes, I found a few that could be used in this situation, and began bringing them together to form the spell in my mind.
Once I was satisfied, I placed the runes in a ring, and drew my personal symbol in the center to restrict it in the same way as I had the teleportation spell. The third, and final spell was a bit more difficult, as it required either a specialized dispel to target only that marking, or a similarly specific absorption. Either way was not exactly easy, and I didn’t want to just leave these markings all over the place!
The problem with this, is that the marking spell is designed to be permanent, which is both good and bad for my circumstances. It is good, because no matter how long Dariel spends in the library, the way will be clear for her return. It is also bad, because permanent effects are naturally harder to dispel. Even such a basic one as this, though there should be many options. In order to make it easier, I did not limit the erasing spell to just the one mark the object created, and instead had it erase all such markings within thirty feet.
By this time, the sun was already high in the sky, and I noticed Denise had come looking for me. Once she saw I was simply sitting on a platform, I guess she figured out what I was up to and went to tell the others. Since I had figured out all three aspects of this device, I was ready to create it.
My first step was to create a wide canvas on the platform in front of me. There were more than a few eyes drawn to me when I did that, as I was creating something from thin air. Afterwards, I grabbed my usual pen and began drawing out the three diagrams, linking them together in a single, larger circle that occupied the entire page. Since I hadn’t been intending to keep any of these spells, and use them solely for enchantments, they were not added to my Spell List and I wasn’t sure if they’d work.
After a while of careful drawing, I had finished the enchantment diagram and decided what form of device I wished to use for the key. Placing both hands on the canvas, I closed my eyes and focused on the spell I wanted. Lately, it has become easier and easier for me to recall spell incantations without the need to look them up.
“I who understands the origin, have taken and written it anew. Become my light, become my shield, and become the blade that divides the world.” Blue light formed in front of my hands, and gradually shifted itself into the spell diagram for Create Intermediate Object. With a diagram this complex, where I wasn’t sure of the outcome even if it worked, I didn’t want to risk using the advanced version.
Between my hands, bathed in that blue glow, a brown object began forming. It looked at first to be made of wood, but gradually smoothed out and shifted to clearly be copper. Looking like an enlarged penny, the symbol in the center was the same as the one I had placed in the library. It warped, just slightly, and a metal pin formed at its back.
Once the object was completed, it fell onto the floor as the spell ended. Since the Origin spells always dropped me to only a single percent of my mana, I had to wait until I was back up to half before placing the badge in the center of the enchantment circle. After I did so, I had to firmly keep the image in my mind of the activation methods for the badge. Unlike the single-spell enchantments, this was riskier because I had to hold multiple triggers in my head at once.
Closing my eyes, I struggled to maintain my focus while pouring magic into the circle. Since I went through the effort to draw it out, all I had to do at this point was focus on the conditions to activate the item. I had no idea how long I was sitting there like that, just waiting for an indication that the enchantment was done. After a while, I heard the soft beep of a prompt appearing, and opened my eyes.
What remained in front of me was a tooltip asking me to name this item. Given its purpose, I decided to call it a Library Pass. After naming it, another tooltip appeared, giving its description.
Library Pass
Created by: Jin
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 20/20
This badge was created for the purpose of traveling to and from the Library of Solomon. If another dimensional space is created with a similar design, this badge has a chance to fail.
Its durability was pretty low, but that didn’t matter much. From the information displayed, it seemed like the spells were a success! Of course, I still wanted to test it out for myself, to ensure that I didn’t give Dariel something that sent her who-knows-where with no way of returning.
After putting the badge on, I gathered up the canvas I had used and placed it back in my Artifact World. With that taken care of, I placed a hand over the badge and closed my eyes. “Take me to the library.”
There was a sudden change in lighting, and the natural noises of the forest had changed into the distant scraping of stone when my eyes again opened. Sure enough, I was now standing inside the library, on top of the symbol I had drawn the last time I was here.
Smiling to myself, I nodded as the item seemed to have worked. As I had expected, it fed on my mana to activate, but only used a few hundred. With that, Dariel wouldn’t have a problem using it to get here whenever she wanted.
Looking around the area, I noticed a few spots already being arranged for seating. I was a bit inconsiderate with the spell, so it will get cramped in here pretty quickly until Dremor manages to alter the layout. Since Levy has my spells, she will probably be able to figure something out if he needs help.
Speaking of which, I turned back to the Hellgate, debating whether or not I should go ahead and pick up the spells for monster creation. Shaking my head, I decided that I might as well wait until I go to Hell after leaving the forest. If the library was already expanded fully, and Dremor had placed the search feature in, I would take a look around. But, as the library is now, finding a book I wanted would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
With a sigh, I put my hand back on the badge. “Take me back.” I didn’t close my eyes, and instead watched as the colors of the area around me began dripping down like wet paint, merging together and running into the floor to leave only a black landscape. Afterwards, the colors shot back up in an explosion of light, bringing me back to where I left. “Wow.. that was different.”
Looking down, I activated my Scan spell to confirm that there was no longer a mark where I landed. Near where I appeared, Denise and Dariel had already gathered. Denise was looking impatiently at me, while Dariel had a smile on her face before speaking up. “So, I take it you came up with something?”
“Ah, yeah… sorry, how long were you two there?”
It was Denise’s turn to answer, it seemed. “I was watching you before you vanished, and went to get Dariel so we could make sure you were okay.”
I nodded my head, holding onto the badge and walking towards the two of them. “Sorry, I was m
aking the key for Dariel. I had to make sure it would work, so I tested it out.” Holding out the badge, I presented it to the elven woman.
“This is it..?” She asked, looking down at the thing in my hand before reaching out to take it.
“Yeah, if you place your hand over it and say ‘Take me to the library’, it will take you there, and ‘Take me back’ to return.”
“Is it still being constructed?”
“Yeah, and once it’s done it’ll probably be another day or two before its ready to be used. There are some enchantments they are going to work on putting in to make looking through the library a lot easier.”
Denise let out a sigh. “So why was it you even wanted that library in the first place? I mean, I understand about wanting an easy place to look up information.. but that’s a bit overboard.”
Smiling, I glanced over to her. “I was wanting to practice my summoning spells, but the creatures we’ve been finding so far wouldn’t be a help to us in a fight. I have no idea where to look for summoning rituals for powerful creatures, so I wanted a library that I could guarantee to have what I wanted.”
The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 29