Unlike the first time I came here, there were now regularly placed orbs of light hovering just below the ceiling to illuminate the entirety of the library. Dremor probably twisted an enchantment on the bookcases to make each one create light at fixed intervals…
“This the line for the index?” I smiled to Dariel, who looked back to me and nodded. Standing in front of her were two other demons. One put his hand on the pedestal, closed his eyes, and then a book appeared on it. Smiling, he took the book and wandered over to the seating area to allow another one to do the same.
“Yeah. This is my first time seeing so many of them…” She was looking more at the demons than the books, which reminded me that she had never joined me in Hell, so she had only been around Lilith, and maybe Levy.
“You get used to it. So, what are you looking for?”
“I want to find a map of the other elven settlements… That way we can re-establish communication with our kind.” She blushed slightly after admitting it. “I told my brother what I was wanting to do, and after informing him of this place, he lost the will to fight me on it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I’m sure. I both screwed up royally and made a huge success with this place.”
“I don’t really see how you screwed up with any of this…” She finally took a moment to look around at the library itself before stepping up to the pedestal.
“Well… about… sixty miles or so ahead, there are books from my world. That’s just a rough estimate, but I could have changed this spell to create a better layout, as well as all of these other things that I had the demons already take care of.”
She nodded at that, and a small book appeared in her hand, which she clutched to her chest tightly. “Yeah.. It’s alright if we copy some books from here, isn’t it?”
“Of course. The only restriction is that you can’t take away the originals made by the library.” After hearing my answer, she smiled widely, and moved over to one of the tables to join the demon menagerie. From what I could see, she was borrowing a pen and paper from someone.
Taking a step forward myself, I noticed that Cynthia was right behind me, but Denise wasn’t behind her. In fact, I couldn’t sense Denise at all on my map, which strangely seemed to treat this place as if it were a city. Most likely, she had gone back to Hell while the two of us study.
Placing my hand on the marble surface, I closed my eyes and focused. I need the summoning rituals and etiquette for powerful beings. In my mind, a long list of titles appeared, all seeming to be connected to the subject I asked for. No demons, and none from my world.
That limited the results of the search from hundreds of titles to just a couple dozen. I randomly chose two of the titles, since neither gave hints about their contents. Then, I performed a search for advanced summoning magic, and received another book from a list. Taking my three books, I moved over to a table on the right, where I had seen Lilith reading.
“Summoning, hmm? You know, a girl might get offended if you look to other beings to help you fight, but not me, right?” Lilith looked at me with a playful glance after seeing the titles of my books. One was in good condition, which was the advanced summoning book, while the other two looked more like ragged journals that were just barely held together.
“I’m sure. I don’t even know if I can read these books in this condition…” I grimaced, staring at the two faded journals.
“Well, why not fix them? That’s the specialty of Magus Mercy, after all.” Lilith let out a small laugh after saying that.
“You want me to use Grand magic on two books… No, wait… you just want to see me use that spell, don’t you?” I eyed her suspiciously, and she lowered her head to hide her face. Yup, you are so guilty.
“Hey, you can’t blame a girl for wanting that. But are you going to, or not?” She lifted her head again to smile at me.
“Fine, fine. I’ll need to link them to their originals first, though. Otherwise, the spell might treat the state they were created in as perfect condition.”
Lilith nodded eagerly, motioning for me to go ahead. Shaking my head with a sigh, I relented. “Link Twins.” I wordlessly cast the spell on the two books, linking them to their originals, before opening my grimoire to read the spell. I might be comfortable using my memory for normal spells, but Grand spell chants were considerably longer. “I have read the laws set down from ancient times. I speak with the voice of ages. As one who rejects destruction, let the hands of time be turned anew. From ashes may the phoenix rise, from pebbles may a mountain bloom. Let all be as it should, under my power.”
Under each of my hands, multiple magic circles appeared, causing both books to begin glowing. Then, it was as if watching time rewind itself, the books gradually becoming whole. The tattered bindings strengthened, the faded ink became clear, even the torn pages mended themselves. Of course, it took every ounce of my magic just to restore four books, counting the originals, but it worked.
Seeing the books literally restored to as good as new, Lilith clapped her hands happily. “I knew you had it in you. Thanks for indulging me in this.”
“Yeah, yeah. It was a good idea, anyways. I’d consider adding Magus Mercy to the update enchantment Dremor is working on, but if all of the books in the world were to repeatedly repair themselves like this, people would freak out.”
“Something of that scale… might even qualify as a Divine magic.” Lilith grinned slightly, before going back to her book. I was a bit surprised when I recognized it as the bible. Of course, not the english translation, but the Hebrew one. Still, my Tongues spell translated the title for me. “This book is rather good, you know. Some of the other copies seemed to have replaced the mentions of your Lilith, but this one still has it.”
“Why am I not surprised?” I smiled to her, and then opened the first book I wanted to read, which was the advanced summoning book. I wanted to be sure to know anything I could to prepare me for what I was going to do. If it had been a matter of summoning demons, then none of this would be necessary. My intimacy with demons was high enough that I could simply ask their permission to summon them, unless they were one of the generals. Even then, I already had a spell to summon one of them.
There were quite a lot of new concepts in this book, such as some of the methods to combine different creatures with the Fusion Summon spell to get ideal results, and containment methods to use during contract rituals. The most interesting containment method was that, instead of a typical barrier, the summoner conjured the space surrounding the target as well, but isolated that space. The result was similar to a barrier which could not be broken without teleporting.
As I read on, I became aware of the messages appearing every so often in the background, which informed me of an increase in my Summoning magic. My main focus now was learning this book, from cover to cover. Since Cynthia sat next to me, I even received notifications about her Blacksmithing skill increasing. After what seemed like an hour and a half of studying, I got another message, which I was not too fond of at all.
New Talent Unlocked!
Scholar - As one who finds the truth of the world in books, you have become capable of receiving the benefits of this Talent, allowing you to read faster, receive increased experience from books, and other effects.
Cynthia has unlocked a new Talent-- Scholar.
I could feel my eye twitching as I read the message that appeared. To me, this was just another trash Talent that I had no need for. Of course, getting Cynthia to level off of trash Talents like this was fine, since it meant she would catch up faster. After taking several deep breaths, I made myself calm down, and analyze the situation carefully. There aren’t any truly trash Talents, as far as I can tell. Scholar should have some useful effect. While thinking that, I opened my character window to inspect it.
Name: Jin
Race: Human
Title: Mage, Emissary of the Underworld, Ritualist, Arcane Savant
Fame: 1670
Level: 309<
br />
Gild: ∞
Soul: 893
Health: 1050
Mana: 4560+850
Strength: 60
Agility: 200
Endurance: 200
Wisdom: 500+20
Intelligence: 720+20+7
Luck: 10
Attack: 10 + 52
Defense: 10 + 150
Talents: Magical Talent 31(+2), Magical Knowledge 28(+2), Navigation 8, Nature Magic 30, Summoning Magic 20, Runescript 11, Discovery 4, Divination 8, Enchanting 27, Infernal Magic 30, Arcane Marksman 8, Sailing 11, Mana Pool 14, Mana Recovery 16, Origin Magic 24, Axe Mastery 2, Carpentry 15, Staff Mastery 9, Arcane Staff 7, Aura 5, Scholar 1
Title Bonuses: +2 Int/Wis, +400 Mana, +2 Magical Talent/Knowledge, +50% Mana Recovery
Equipment bonuses: +20 Int/Wis, +750 Mana, +50% Mana Recovery, Elemental Resistance +5%, Magic xp gain +15%
My jaw almost dropped when I saw the new number appearing beside my Intelligence. So Scholar is the one that increases that! I guess it is good after all. With that thought in mind, I fully immersed myself back in my book, eager to train my new Talent.
Chapter 23
The next few days, I spent submersed almost entirely in the various books I was reading within the library. Given how long it took me to acquire the Scholar talent, I had no doubt that it would take a while to level up. Still, I knew that the talents which increased stats were worth the effort. Denise and Cynthia were the perfect examples of this, since Denise’s Agility rose to over a thousand with the aid of the Reflex talent.
Every now and again, I would have to stop to take a short break, but otherwise my time was devoted entirely to learning the methods of summoning these powerful beings. The first creature I was studying how to summon was known as the Prince of Blades, a nephilim. Nephilims were the offspring of humans and angels, so naturally they were rare given the angels’ personality. In the rare case where one was born, and survived to adulthood, they often possessed power greater than normal humans.
The second creature I was studying was known as Harvoth, but I was wary of calling him. Harvoth was a former mage, who specialized in necromancy. Upon his death, he invoked a spell that would transform him into a lich. Liches were powerful undead spellcasters, capable of bringing destruction on a massive scale. The part that had me the most averse to calling him was the standard price for the contract the book listed. Harvoth demanded a blood tribute, meaning I would have to sacrifice someone to secure his aid.
Naturally, of the two I chose the Prince of Blades, but I still read the information from Harvoth’s book in order to learn as much as I could about the summoning process. Most of the details between the two were similar, such as the summoning circle used and the normal precautions in case the summoned entity decided to attack. There were various problems with performing a contract such as this, most obvious the fact that if the summon were to die, it can never be returned. This applied whether or not I was summoning it at the time.
On the second day of studying, I heard a voice behind me, like bones rubbing against each other. “There you are. I was wondering when I’d see you again.”
Turning around, I saw a six foot tall figure wrapped in a black cloak. Only its hands and face were visible, with neither flesh or muscle present. Combined with the overgrown scythe over its shoulder, it was the ideal form for a grim reaper.
“Excuse me?” I blinked, looking over the figure. It took me a few moments, but eventually I realized who this had to be. “Kirasami?”
“Close. I decided to change my name. I now go by Shi, since I was able to get this form.” His face was frozen into a single expression thanks to being a skull, but that couldn’t hide the joy in his voice.
“Shi, huh? You really like your Japanese names.” I shook my head, smiling as I thought back, remembering what the name meant.
“Well, it does look like an image of death, doesn’t it?” He let out a rough chuckle, his bones clattering within his cloak. No, now that I had a better look at it, it wasn’t a real cloak at all. His body was wrapped entirely in an almost tangible field of shadows.
“Yeah, it does. How did you even get a form like that? I’ve never seen that kind of demon before.”
Shi let out a heavy sigh. “It wasn’t easy. Since I kept my darkness magic, I decided to pick a form that focused on that. I also knew how to handle weapons like this thanks to my ninja training.” He patted the scythe resting against his body. “So, after practicing my magic for a while, I became a Shade Demon. Then, I got the idea to try this, and practiced necromancy and scythe-wielding.
“After training for a while, I evolved into a Skull Fiend. Man, that was a tough evolution to get through. I was basically just a floating skull unless I animated a body for myself. Last night, I made the breakthrough I had been waiting for, and evolved into this form, known as a Reaper. I hadn’t expected to be able to level up this fast, but the other demons were always eager to spar me, or conduct magic duels.”
“What level are you now?” I asked curiously, wondering when he achieved the fourth evolution.
“Hmm… after the bonuses I got from evolving, I’m at 320 now. Having the experiences of a previous life might have helped me level up faster, as well.”
“320, already? It’s only been a little while, man.” I shook my head, sighing as I thought about how long he’s been here. “You must have been training non-stop. It’s only been like three weeks or so since I left you, and you were just an imp then.”
“Yeah, like I said, there were various factors that helped me out. People around here really seem to admire you. Though, I don’t think I’ll be able to level very fast from now on.”
“Why’s that?”
“Being a Reaper makes almost all of my abilities carry various degrees of death magic. I can’t duel people anymore, because I might accidentally kill them. And unlike the ‘middle world’, there aren’t any monster hunting grounds that I can use. I actually came here hoping to find some ways to either level up through the books, or to find a way to suppress the death effects.”
I nodded, understanding his reasoning. If he had managed his obscene growth rate because of constant spars, and suddenly he was incapable of sparring anyone, then of course he would slow down. “Have you considered heading to the middle world to hunt for a while? Though, aside from other foreigners, you’d have to challenge a dungeon for it to be a real challenge at your level.”
“Thought about it, but I don’t have an illusion ability to appear human. If I showed up, everyone would think I was just a special monster.”
“That’s true, too… Hmm, well, there is one other thing.” I nodded my head again as I thought of something. “I could form a summoning contract with you. That way, whenever I get in a difficult situation, I can call you to help. We’re pretty high level as well, so it might not happen too often.”
There almost seemed to be a flicker of light within his empty eye sockets. “Sure. I think that could work. Oh, and have you managed to get the second Hidden Power yet?”
I chuckled, nodding. “Mine is another spell. How about you, you should have replaced your old one with two new ones by now?”
“Yeah. My first one is a shadow form. Makes me almost immune to any attacks, but I have an extreme weakness to light magic while it is on. The second one I just got with my new evolution, and it’s a death aura. One of its effects is the passive death magic that my attacks receive.”
“That first one… is kind of overpowered..” I sighed, thinking about how useful it would be. Light magic probably wasn’t very common unless you fought an angel or someone with Holy magic. I could probably manage some light-based attacks with Nature magic, as well. “Well, I can’t say that really, given what my two are. Since I’m not worrying about the brigade anymore, and you know I’m a mage, it’s fine to tell you. My two are Magus Wrath and Magus Mercy. The first is a wide range area spell that inflicts damage to everyone equal to my mana. The second is a spell that f
ully restores one person or object.”
“And you call the shadow form overpowered…” He let out another chuckle. “They probably have insane mana costs, though.”
“Yeah, each one uses my full mana pool. I’m working on developing a few other big spells to help me out, as well.”
“I heard that you’re the one that made this library from Levy, though I wasn’t really sure I believed it at first.”
“Oh? You spend a lot of time with Levy, do you?” I grinned, teasing him.
“Hey, don’t say it like that! She’s really cool, you know? Besides, it’s not like anything could happen, with this body..” He seemed a bit depressed when he realized one of the downsides of being a skeleton.
The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 33