Chương 57: Chapter 56 The Library Beneath the Forest

Drip. Drip. Drip. An unfamiliar sound entered Karath's ears.

"Ghhh..." He opened his eyes with a groan, pain spreading across his entire body. Then his final memory returned. He had fallen through the ground. Karath realized that the impact of the fall must have knocked him unconscious.

"Woof! Woof!" Buddy noticed that he was awake and hurried over, licking Karath's cheek.

"You saved Karath, Buddy." Had Karath not followed the wolf before the drake released its breath, he would have been roasted alive. Drip. Drip. Drip. Water continued falling onto his body.

"Damn it." Karath wiped his face.

"The monsoon must have begun." It had already been close to the rainy season. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. That was not the most urgent problem.

"Where is this place?" Karath did not know where he had fallen. He moved away from the dripping water and forced himself upright, then examined his surroundings. A vast ceiling stretched overhead. Rainwater poured through a hole in one section. Karath had apparently entered through that opening. Fortunately, it was not particularly large. The remains of an enormous tree blocked most of it. The tree had probably been destroyed by the drake's breath before falling across the opening.

Karath lowered his gaze and searched the underground chamber. The first objects he noticed were things he had never seen since reincarnating. Yet they had once been completely familiar.

"Bookshelves?" Rows of shelves filled with books stood before him. The room resembled a library from his former world. After considering its size, Karath decided it was too small to be a true library. It looked more like a university professor's office. A desk and chair stood beside the shelves, strengthening that impression. Karath rose and approached the books. What kind of person had created such a place beneath a monster-infested forest inhabited by ogres and drakes?

What kind of books had that person collected? Curiosity naturally overwhelmed him. Learning language and writing from Roberto had truly been fortunate. Roberto had explained that the continent possessed a common language. Different kingdoms and regions spoke with varying accents and occasionally used different words, much like regional dialects. The written language, however, remained the same. Karath should therefore be able to read these books.

He had studied under Roberto for only three months, so there would certainly be words he did not understand. Even so, he could attempt to infer their meanings from context. By the time Karath finished considering those possibilities, he had already reached the nearest shelf. The first title that caught his attention was Introduction to Magic.

"So magic truly exists." Roberto had told him about magic and mages. Seeing an actual book devoted to the subject still felt strange. As though drawn by an invisible force, Karath reached out and removed it from the shelf. He opened the cover and began reading slowly. Some words were familiar. Others were completely unknown. Whenever he encountered one he did not recognize, Karath continued reading and attempted to infer its meaning from the surrounding sentences.

After studying the book for some time, he reached an unexpected conclusion.

"This works almost like writing a program." The fundamental structure of magic was remarkably familiar to a former programmer.