Chapter 200: Sir Book
The library before him was both spacious and rich in character. Fisher walked along the rows of bookshelves until he reached the center of the library, right beneath a massive crystal glass ceiling. The moonlight shone on Fisher, and he looked down to see a revised map of Nali.
“Isn’t there an excessive amount of books here? In our tribe, we’ve recorded hundreds of years of history with only a few scrolls.”
Xiatu gazed at the densely packed books and their classifications on the surrounding shelves. The first floor of the library was the tallest, about six or seven meters high, with towering bookshelves arranged by category, their books neatly aligned. The second and third floors contained other classified books.
Most of the books here were originals. Many of the academic texts Fisher read during his university days at the Royal Academy were printed versions from here. Numerous book covers still bore visible signs of repair, as they had been roughly treated during the chaos of war when they were invaded by Shivali.
“The books here don’t even amount to one-fifth of what the royal library had before ‘the Shame of Godlin.’ Some were privately hoarded by people both abroad and domestically, and a larger portion was burned in the flames of war. For instance, the ‘Complete Grimoire of Nali,’ which Teacher Heilson dedicated his life to revising, had already been revised during the reign of Godlin the Second and was lost in that great turmoil.”
“Is the Grimoire that important? I see your Magic Association creates entirely new spells every year; the quantity of magic created in recent years has probably caught up to what’s recorded in those grimoires, right?”
Anna, with her arms crossed, followed Fisher while examining the surrounding bookshelves, questioning.
Though she hailed from the Southern Continent, she had lived in Nali long enough to understand many local matters, far better than the two simple-minded subhuman ladies.
Fisher nodded but remained noncommittal, instead glancing at Jasmine behind him and said, “Magic doesn’t come from nowhere. Aside from those powerful individuals who design entirely new concepts and spells, the vast majority of mages are just groping in the dark while standing on the shoulders of giants. The new magic we designed is largely either a bizarre patchwork or a continuation of established magical concepts.”
“But innovating a completely unfamiliar magical concept is a high-risk endeavor. If the magic design goes wrong, you could end up losing half your body to an explosion, being swallowed by the world into an unknown space, being turned into a desiccated corpse, or even going mad.”
Fisher’s words sent shivers down the spines of the ladies. Their understanding of the essence of magic was shallow; they thought such things were like those found in myths, where you could simply wave a hand to operate a spell, neglecting that magic is fundamentally an academic edifice built on theory.
When certain matters link to theory, they become quite dry and boring, much like mathematics.
Perhaps it was because the people of the Western Continent adopted the essential ideas of magic early on that when concepts from natural sciences like physics and chemistry emerged, scholars entered the exploration without any resistance, achieving promising results in two hundred years.
“This is also why ancient masters of magic are revered; most of them sacrificed their lives without hesitation to carve out possibilities in magical design. Behind the hasty entries of a single magic in the grimoire, there could be the lives of a hundred mages. Many engraving schools of magic have now gradually withered and died, yet their engraving techniques and runes remain undocumented, which is a loss for Nali and the global magical academia.”
“Forget it; I’m just speaking out of sentiment. For now, let’s focus on finding the entrance to the treasure vault.”
Fisher spotted a small lamp meant for use beside the bookshelf. He picked it up and lit it, finally providing some light in the dark library. He scanned the “Magic-related Books” on the nearby shelf, but then withdrew his gaze in disappointment.
“It’s around two in the morning now. We should hurry and split up on the first floor to see if there’s anything strange.”
“Okay,” Anna nodded, heading off in another direction. Xiatu hesitated for a second before turning to follow Anna, while Jasmine stayed with Fisher.
Blake had built these two structures for the Godlin royal family and arrogantly buried his own treasure vault beneath them. Fisher speculated that if there was an entrance to the vault, there were likely two methods to access it.
One was a simple physical mechanism, like pressing a button or entering a password to open the passageway to the vault, akin to what was done in the Healing Room.
But if it were that obvious, especially since Kachina often came here to retrieve equipment and relics, she would surely have presented herself often to enter the vault.
As for why Kachina could so easily enter the royal grounds beside Nali Lake?
First, it was because Blake had the permission to come and go freely here, but that wasn’t the main reason. The most important point was that within the royal family, there was Lunsis, who had collaborated with Blake and the others.
Or perhaps, it was not only Lunsis’ idea but likely also the intention of Godlin the Ninth?
Thus, the second possibility was that there were relics or magical triggers in the vicinity.
Magic has runes, which emit fluctuations of magical power. Fisher was quite knowledgeable about the structure of magic; he could comprehend how a spell functions simply by looking at one. Meanwhile, relics might lack distinct traces, but as long as one could visually identify a relic, they could keenly sense that it was not an ordinary item. This was why Fisher had sent Anna and the others to find anything strange.
“Strange, there is no fluctuation of magical runes here. Could it be that Blake used a relic as a switch?”
Fisher glanced around the first floor but did not detect any traces of magic, and he shifted his focus back to the relic theory.
This was very likely, especially after confirming Blake’s connection to Muxi, the Whale Folk capable of crafting relics.
Jasmine followed closely behind Fisher, illuminating her surroundings with the lamp, but apart from books, there were only reading tables. She passed through rows of bookshelves and returned to the center, where Anna had also brought Xiatu back.
“Did you find anything over there?” Anna asked.
Anna shook her head and replied, “Other than the controls for lighting and the switch for the overhead glass dome, there were only books.”
The main part of the library had no windows, so the large glass dome was designed to act as a big window. At that moment, the glass was completely closed. Fisher looked up at the glass ceiling and saw no traces of magical power.
“Could it be on the second floor?”
The moon in the sky had begun to slant; it would be dawn in less than four hours. Fisher was unsure whether Blake was aware that he had escaped, and he dared not take chances, so he hastened, turning his attention to the second and third floors.
The first floor of the library contained academic and historical books, while the second and third floors had some other novels, fairy tales, and picture books. The space on the second and third floors was clearly not as large as the ground floor, and the bookshelves were non-removable, let alone any possible presence of relics or magical runes.
Skeptically, Fisher and Anna’s group searched through the library for an hour but found nothing. It was already late at night, and Anna and Xiatu were somewhat tired, resting on the first floor while only Fisher and Jasmine continued searching on the second floor.
The fruitless search left Fisher perplexed. Was it really just a physical switch? That seemed too obvious. The library had been constructed for many years, and any subsequent repairs and maintenance were the responsibility of the royal family—could they truly be so foolish as to overlook that?
That was simply illogical.
Eventually, Jasmine and Fisher began casually flipping through the tomes placed on the bookshelves, wondering if a relic was hidden within a book, similar to a bookmark.
But if that were the case, finding that relic would be quite difficult unless they knew the exact book. Did they really have to wait for Blake to return for a showdown?
On the second floor, Jasmine and Fisher were both engrossed in reading a third edition of “Stories of Nali Heroes.” They had already been searching for over an hour, with Fisher recommending Jasmine take a break while he pondered the possibilities of entering the vault.
This book chronicled numerous biographies of Nali heroes from the reign of Godlin the First to Godlin the Fifth, and the story Jasmine was currently reading detailed Godlin the First’s battle, explaining how he decided against using massive siege engines due to his reluctance to harm the townsfolk, ultimately leading to the withdrawal of his forces.
The central empire’s general defending the city was moved by Godlin the First’s kindness and wisdom, fully aware of the empire’s long-standing decay, yet he could not abandon his loyalty. Resolving to commit suicide for his country, he inspired his men to follow Godlin the First instead.
“The empire’s ships have carried me through half my life; I cannot abandon it. You young ones have just boarded the ship, and of course, you have the right to choose a new vessel, one larger and more spacious, with a wiser captain. Go, after I die, you can leave and follow your new master.”
Jasmine’s mouth hung open; a legendary story stirred in her heart, with the image of the valiant, decisive, and wise Godlin the First leaping onto the page and racing directly into her mind.
“Ha, this story is a lie. The real reason Godlin the First decided against the siege was that supplies were insufficient; they couldn’t hold out for another attack. And the general didn’t willingly choose to commit suicide for his country; it was his men, seeing no hope in defending the city, who thought it better to assassinate their commander and join the enemy.”
“Ahhh! A ghost!”
Just as Jasmine was engrossed in her reading, a male voice with a quacking tone suddenly erupted nearby, startling her out of the story’s world. She instinctively swung her hand, only to hit a very thick and ancient book.
That book had been open, and her hit caused it to fly across the air, spinning several times before hitting the ground.
Jasmine gasped, placing the book she had been holding down, turning to look around. Besides that book, there was no one else. Fisher had gone upstairs to search for clues, leaving Jasmine alone on the second floor.
So, the voice just now was from this book?
Moreover, didn’t she notice that the book seemed to be floating in midair earlier?!
Jasmine bit her lip, scared to approach, so she tossed the book in her hand over as a test to see if that thing was alive. As soon as she threw it, the book was caught midair by Fisher descending the stairs.
He looked at Jasmine in confusion, unsure why she had thrown the book; he had also heard her scream while coming down.
“What’s wrong?”
“Fisher! That book has a ghost inside!”
“A ghost?”
Fisher turned to look at the heavy, ancient book on the ground. As he got closer, he suddenly noticed that the book had no title or text. He had searched the second floor earlier, and he was confident in his memory; he shouldn’t have overlooked this book.
Fisher squatted down, just about to reach out and pick up the book when the cover suddenly opened an eye, staring directly at him. This didn’t scare Fisher because his Fluid Sword had already extended, the mercury-like blade poised to strike at the book.
“Stop! Sir! Don’t attack! I’m a good person. Ah, no, a good book!”
The eye on the book squinted slightly, revealing a frightened and flustered expression. It suddenly floated up, and at that moment, not only did the eye appear, but also a small mouth grinning widely, which opened, continuously calling out to Fisher.
The bizarre floating book instinctively led Fisher to think this was some sort of biological experiment created by Blake, given how ugly and abstract it looked.
“Listen, I mean no harm. Even if I did have malicious intent, I pose no threat to you. I’m just a book! Harmless, adorably innocent, just a book!”
Even though the book had a “face” with a mouth, when it spoke, not only did its mouth open, but the pages behind it also kept opening and closing, as if it were an accordion that needed to be pushed and pulled. Through the opened pages, Fisher noticed the countless writings inside, unsure of what exactly was recorded there.
“Shut up.”
Its quacking voice was too unpleasant; talking sounded like noise pollution. Fisher nonchalantly raised his Fluid Sword at it, causing the book to immediately shut its mouth, a smile of appeasement evident in its eyes.
“Okay, okay, I’ll do as you say. I won’t talk.”
Jasmine, curious, rushed over, gazing at the ancient book which only had one eye floating in the air, her mouth agape. She didn’t know what this thing was, but it was remarkably strange.
“I’ll ask, you answer. Tell me, what are you, and how did you come to be here?”
“What? Thing?!”
The eye of the book widened suddenly, and then the whole book expanded significantly, as if taking a deep breath to calm itself. After pausing for a second, it incredulously shouted back at Fisher,
“How dare you call me a thing! This is an outrage! Listen well, I am the esteemed Sir Book, Emhart!”
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(End of this chapter)
