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005 - In Search of Knowledge
🕑 Added 2024-12-13 01:38:33 +0000 UTCWhere should I start? Maybe Historical Records of Tectonic Shifts, or how about Psychology of Nascent Earth Elemental? Isn't there something more broad? Why does everything have to be so specific? Why can't this place just have some sort of search function?
Ethan sighed, putting a leather-bound book back into the bookcase where it originated from. He turned away, only for his sight to be filled with bookcases, forming a large labyrinth of information. Yet, finding the specific book suited to one's needs felt more like seeking to find a needle in a haystack.
Ethan walked aimlessly, browsing through various books as he went. Still, most of those books were written in foreign languages, some even long dead to the world for millennia. Those written in the common tongue were but the minority, but also primarily recent. Ethan could tell by their covers alone.
It wasn't that those books were in horrific shape. In fact, most of them felt brand new, as if time had stopped at the moment of their creations. Still, layers of dust covered them—a thin film of grey blurring the bright letters found on the various covers.
Ethan picked one such book, resting peacefully on an abandoned mound of similar tomes. In fact, most books within the library were found in this manner. Despite the astounding amount of bookcases loitered around the place, it would never be enough to house all these receptacles of knowledge.
How long has it been here?
A slight sorrow could be found in the depths of Ethan's eyes—sorrow for the countless such books abandoned here, never to see the light of day again, never to be sought for the knowledge contained within. Still, Ethan also felt sadness for the fact that he couldn't read them. The golden characters peering through layers of dust were nothing more than gibberish to him.
Then, Ethan felt a gaze blow past him; only a momentarily glimpse of a green outline flashed in his peripheral vision before decades—or even centuries—of accumulated dust rose in the air, as if a tornado, only to disappear in the darkness of the world above, never to be seen again.
Ethan stood in the middle of it. Dust clung to his clothes but also sought its way through his orifices. He couldn't help but close his eyes, putting both hands over his mouth and nose, but nevertheless, the dust infiltrated regardless.
A forceful cough assaulted him, seeking to expel this harmful substance. The sound of his struggle resonated in his surroundings, yet was drowned out by the forceful gale blowing past. After the wind receded, he opened his eyes, only to see the surrounding mounds of discarded books were now neatly piled up; no trace of dust remained on them. The same applied to the book in his hands, yet he still couldn't make out the title. He couldn't help but sigh.
“Mating Habits of the Giant Apes of the Isle of Isbal... It seems Little Ethan is growing into a man. I didn’t know you were interested in such things.”
Ethan felt his body freeze, yet he could only act as if nothing had happened. He felt a soft pressure on his back as if someone was peering over his shoulder. However, there was no trace of body heat, just the coolness of the morning breeze.
He glanced at the side without turning his head, only to see a blurred boundary as if the colour green had just emerged from the world.
How many times has it done this when I wasn’t aware?
Ethan felt cold sweat appear on his back.
It’s making me regret being able to see it...
He took a deep, slow breath yet tried to make it seem as natural as possible, all the while desperately trying to remain calm. Without a word, he returned the book to the top of a neat pile before walking away. Still, he could clearly feel it following him.
Ethan walked aimlessly within the maze, only to happen upon a long staircase that rose to the sky. Still, even as he raised his gaze, he couldn't find any signs of a floor above. The staircase merely seemed to disappear into the darkened sky. Without much consideration, Ethan chose to climb it.
After a few minutes of constant climbing, Ethan found himself alone in the void—except that he wasn't. The green spirit of wind had followed him, whistling a distracting tune with its mere presence alone. She was the wind, immaterial but ever-present. Her existence was transient, a flow of pressure waves within the river of time. She was the freest being in the world, yet bound to it by chains of her own design—now bound to this endless library where no wind blew but hers.
Seeing no end in sight, Ethan stopped. Upwards held nothing but darkness, while the ground below his feet was nothing more than a single dot of light in the distance. There were no guardrails nor counter steps, just fragile steps supporting his weight, floating within the endless void.
“Is little Ethan feeling melancholic looking at this desolate scenery?” the spirit said, her green outline dancing in the void.
Ethan felt as if he saw long ribbons of wind follow after her, almost as if she wore a long dress fluttering in the breeze. No matter how much he researched these creatures, he couldn't understand their thought process. He sat on the stairs and pondered, discreetly gazing at the green outline.
It hides its sadness through mischief. No matter how close to human it became through the contract, it cannot change its nature. It is wind, meant to be free, but now bound to the contract, and yet, it doesn’t seem to regret it. Is the prize truly worth this sacrifice?
As he watched the wind dance within the void, letting his mind wander, Ethan was suddenly brought back to reality. A point of light appeared within the darkness, beyond the boundary of the Endless Library. It felt like a flicker in space, the very fabric of reality shimmering as if a distant star exploded, spreading shock waves throughout the universe, only its scale was much smaller.
A single piece of paper appeared within the void, floating in place. A single lonely white sheet, yet full of knowledge, imprinted onto it. And yet, Ethan couldn't make out the characters from this distance. It appeared without a sound, almost like it had just popped into existence. Still, it was no illusion.
Mere moments later, many more pages were created, the ink on their surface barely dried. Ethan could even see the characters appear on the page one after the other, in sequential order, as if they were being written before his very eyes.
Soon after, as the last pages appeared, they became bound together, as if a collective, as leather wrapped them like a mother protecting her child. The newly formed book floated into space, drifting aimlessly as if carried by a nonexistent wind, only to traverse the infinite staircase and fall upon it softly as if a feather straight into Ethan's hands.
He couldn't help but glance at the green outline swirling around him, giggling like a joyful child. He could feel the weight of the pages in his hands—the weight of newly-born knowledge. As for how it came to be, Ethan had no clue. He wasn't sure anybody did.
Maybe the Archon or the Magisterium knew something of the Endless Library yet weren't inclined to share. Not even the one in charge—his brother-in-law—seemed forthcoming with such information.
Has it been already two years since I began my employment here? Yet, the mysteries of this place still elude me.
Ethan stood at the edge of this world with a brand-new book in hand. Indeed, despite being called the Endless Library, this place definitely had an edge. Yet, in the two years since he started working here, he had observed the world expand. The boundaries of years prior weren't the same anymore. Although slow, many more books were added to the collection, necessitating ever more bookcases to organize them all. Such was his role in all this.
While many thought of the librarians as mere clerks providing access to the impossibly large repository of knowledge, they were more like archivists, allowing this place to retain a semblance of order in this maelstrom of ever-changing written wisdom.
Still, not many take their jobs seriously. One just has to look at this spirit to know what its owner is like—birds of a feather and all that. I wonder where the funding for all this goes. It's not in our pockets, that's for sure...
Ethan sighed before looking at the heavy tome in his hands, yet he couldn't help but frown. He glanced at the green spirit but couldn't find it anymore. It had disappeared. Whether it had simply blended into the atmosphere or had been recalled for some reason or other, Ethan didn't know, but he also didn't care. He couldn't help but stare at the title.
Studies of Subterranean Mana Flow Conducted Under the Arceus Plateau.
Ethan's expression couldn't help but contort, feeling this to be too much of a coincidence. A dry laugh remained stuck in his throat, not knowing whether to be concerned or laugh. He wondered if the universe was playing a joke on him. What were the odds of reality giving him precisely what he needed at this specific moment?
Still, his shock quickly faded. Ethan opened the thick cover without wasting another moment, revealing the knowledge within. He furiously flipped through the pages, drinking the words within, letting them slip straight into his consciousness.
The book was thick and heavy, filled with untold knowledge, yet each page went by swiftly, almost as if they were imprinted into his psyche, only to be decoded sometime later. It felt like he was a starving man satisfying his hunger for the first time.
When the very last page had finally been turned, the book now closed and lying on his lap, Ethan took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He looked into the distant void, his gaze swimming through the endless expanse. There was a slight smile on his face.
“I... couldn’t read anything,” he muttered. “Not a single thing...”
Rage took hold of him as he rose to his feet, the book held firmly in his grip as he cocked back his arm, seeking to throw it back into the endless abyss, only to stop at the last moment. He looked at the cover, observing the same title he had seen just moments prior. He could clearly read the letter, but when he turned to the first page, everything seemed like gibberish.
Nothing made sense: not the syntax nor the grammar. Not even the Mise-en-page was anything close to what the Empire used as a standard. Only the characters themselves did Ethan recognize. However, they were arranged in such a fashion that nothing made sense. It was almost as if this book was written in code, only meant for its author's eyes and no one else. Not even the black book he had found a year ago seemed that obtuse.
Is Mana Flow something that requires such secrecy? What is the author trying to hide?
Ethan turned the book over and looked at the back cover, but no name was present. Still, this was hardly surprising. More books than not were without author credentials, mainly those appearing from the void. Still, this was only one of many ways for books to be added to the collection. The Empire possessed many agents scouring the world in search of knowledge, and all knowledge ended here—a tomb of forgotten words.
Well... nothing to be done about it, Ethan thought as he rose, tucking the book under his arm as he began his descent. I can probably crack this code in my spare time or find someone who can...
