Chương 56: Ancient Tome

"What is it…?" Zelier felt his bones go numb from the way Bev dragged out his name.

"Look, I have to organize such a huge library all by myself. It's exhausting, and I'm so pitiful… right?" Bev gently tugged at Zelier's arm.

"You're so capable. Help me out and organize it together with me, okay?" There was no way Zelier could resist Bev's pleading. He let out a helpless sigh.

"Fine, let's go…"

"Hehe." …… When the two arrived at the library, the administrator was already waiting for them.

"You're here for the mandatory assignment, right?" The administrator adjusted his glasses and pointed toward an area in the southeast corner of the library.

"That section over there. It's your responsibility. There aren't too many books, just sort them according to category." The bookshelves in that area were clearly much older than the others. A large table sat beneath them, covered with piles of books that had yet to be organized.

"I'll climb the ladder and put the books back on the higher shelves. You can handle dusting and sorting them below. How does that sound?" Bev immediately started assigning roles. Zelier didn't really care.

"Whatever you say." Bev dragged out a movable wooden ladder from the corner and began working. However, once she actually started, she quickly realized this task was far more difficult than she had imagined. The books stored on the upper shelves were much heavier than expected. After taking down only a few, her arms were already sore and weak, and tiny beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

"No, no, no…" Bev climbed down from the ladder, panting. Her cheeks were flushed red.

"Switch places. You go up there, I'll sort things down here." Zelier helplessly shook his head and took her place. He stepped onto the creaking wooden ladder and slowly climbed upward. While organizing books below, he hadn't noticed anything special. But standing this high up, he finally realized just how enormous the library's ceiling was. It was practically a grand hall.

"This one, The Chronicles of King Thiel —biography section!"

"This one, Exploration Notes of the Dragonspine Mountains —geography section!"

"This one, A Brief History of the Continent —history section!" Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Bev called out the titles loudly while dusting off the books below. Sometimes she found books belonging to the upper shelves and had to stand on tiptoe to pass the heavy tomes upward for Zelier to place.

"Catch!" Bev tossed a book upward. Zelier reacted instantly and caught it. His body swayed twice from the sudden weight, and the wooden ladder beneath him let out a series of loud creaks. For a moment, it looked like he might fall.

"Bev, be careful!" Zelier was startled. Bev only giggled from below. As they continued working together, the two gradually became more in sync. Their efficiency improved dramatically. Before long, the piles of books on the table had all been cleared. Just as Zelier was placing the final batch of geography books back onto the highest shelf, an ancient tome tucked deep inside the shelf caught his attention. Unlike the other books, this one was completely different.

The cover seemed to be made from some kind of untreated white bark. There were no words written on it, only an illustration of an ancient tree with flourishing branches drawn in black ink.

"What kind of book is this…?" Zelier curiously pulled it out. It was extremely thin, almost weightless in his hand.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Bev called from below. Zelier climbed down the ladder and handed the book to her. Bev blew the dust off the cover and opened the first page. Zelier leaned closer as well. The writing inside was not the common language of the Candia Continent. Zelier couldn't understand a single word. However, the script itself was elegant and flowing, filled with a sense of nature and harmony.

"This is…" Bev frowned, thinking hard for a moment. Then she suddenly slapped her palm.

"I remember now! This is Elven!"

"Elven?"

"Only Elven script looks like this. But I've never systematically studied the language, so I can't read it." Bev quickly flipped through the pages.

"This book was placed in the wrong section. Shouldn't it be moved to the category of texts awaiting identification?" Suddenly, a yellowed piece of parchment slipped from between the pages and slowly drifted onto the floor. Bev picked it up. The parchment was also covered with black ink drawings. Although the images didn't depict anything specific, the lines were incredibly complicated and twisted. They intertwined with one another in complete disorder, seemingly without any logic.

Yet simply looking at them made an inexplicable uneasiness rise in the heart.

"There's still some mental energy left behind on this…" Bev tried channeling her mental power into the parchment. But nothing happened. The internal pathway structure was just as chaotic and incomprehensible.

"Here, take a look." Bev handed the parchment to Zelier. The instant Zelier touched it— Everything changed. A massive torrent of information surged directly into his Mindscape. Buzz— His mind went completely blank. It was as if his brain had frozen. Everything before his eyes vanished. The concepts of time and space blurred into nothingness. Only darkness remained. Within the endless void, a brilliant light suddenly erupted. It swept across the entire darkness, cleaving through the universe itself.

An overwhelming flood of knowledge poured into him. Countless voices echoed beside his ears, voices that seemed to have existed since the dawn of eternity. The entire world seemed to bow before him, offering him the highest reverence. When Zelier finally regained consciousness, he was still standing before the bookshelf. Everything around him remained unchanged. However— A complicated and chaotic Spell Matrix had been engraved deep within his Mindscape. Impossible to erase. Zelier's heart pounded violently.

His breathing grew heavier without him realizing it. Because he saw it. The analysis progress of The Grand Creation had changed. [The Grand Creation, Analysis Progress — 1%!] The legendary spell said to have the power to shape worlds… Had actually advanced. Zelier took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He could say with absolute certainty— This progress increase did not happen naturally over time.

Back when he experienced the vision from the ending of The Immortal's Curse, he had spent millions, perhaps even tens of millions of years, relying on natural analysis to reach the final stage. How much time had passed now? Not even a month. There was no way the analysis progress could have changed on its own. Zelier lowered his gaze toward the parchment in his hand, countless thoughts surging through his mind. Those chaotic Spell Matrix fragments… Could they be part of The Grand Creation?

And what exactly was written in this book? Could it be related to the Creator God? Suppressing the storm of thoughts inside his head, Zelier turned toward Bev.

"Can I borrow this book?"

"Probably." Bev nodded.

"Anything placed out here isn't considered a valuable book." Then she tilted her head.

"But weren't you unable to read Elven?"

"I have a half-elf friend. He might be able to understand it." Zelier paused.

"And I've always been interested in the elves."

"Oh." Bev nodded.

"Then put it aside. Once we finish organizing everything, just register it with the administrator."