The next morning, I continued cleaning from where I've left yesterday night. It took half a day to clean the rest of the floor and another hour to throw all the accumulated dirt. I threw it a little distance away from the building.
I can see the whole floor now. It looks like the whole floor is laid with pure white marble. The strange golden runes are also etched onto the whole floor.
Apart from the statue, the strange golden markings, and the stairs leading down to the basement, there is nothing in this large auditorium.
Now that the floor is cleaned, I will start working on the walls. The walls are too high. I won't be able to reach the top. I should probably make a ladder using the fallen branches and vines.
Before that, let me explore the basement first.
I move into the basement to see if there is anything down there. The place is dark. As it's a basement, there aren't any windows or any openings to let light in. Maybe there is some form of lighting system set up in here that would brighten the whole place. But either it isn't working or it simply isn't there.
Either way, it's dark in here and I can't see much in the dark.
I used my improvised staff as a walking stick to poke around to feel where everything is but that didn't help. All I could say was that the basement is also covered with strange dark blue markings like the floor above.
And these markings are etched everywhere I could see. It began at the end of the steps and proceeded onto the walls and the floor as far as I can see. But these markings didn't cause me any headaches by looking at them like the ones above.
The basement exploration would have to wait until I can unlock a skill that helps me see in the dark or until I make some torches. Then I can carefully explore it.
As the basement exploration was a bust, I focused the rest of my time on making a ladder. I didn't make it too high in fear of falling down. I made it double my height such that even if I fall, there won't be a risk of death.
After making the ladder came the cleaning part. I slowly starting cleaning the walls starting from where the statue is. It took two days to clean all four walls up to the ladder's height.
Similar to the floor, the walls are also made of white marble. But the walls are plain, there aren't any murals, etchings, paintings, or anything of the kind on them.
Next, I started cleaning the building's outside walls and that took another two days. Similar to the inside, the outside walls also don't have any kind of work done on them. Just polished marble.
While cleaning the outside walls, I found a metal plaque embedded into the wall at the entrance. There is something written on it but I couldn't read it.
Looking at the auditorium from afar right now, it looks like a pure white square upon which another dusty square is placed. And upon which another dusty semicircle is set.
The inside and outside parts of the building that are cleaned look pristine, I don't know how it's even possible. Must be magic.
During the four days I was cleaning my future residence, I was also training my skills during the night so as to not waste time and it does have results.
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Stealth reaches level 2
Meditation reaches level 2
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Now that I've cleaned my place, I should start exploring the surroundings.
I plan on exploring the stout building that is to the right of the auditorium today as it looks closer and a little smaller compared to other buildings. It would be worth it if I can find any clue as to where I am.
I take my improvised staff and start sneaking towards the building very slowly. I filled my pockets to the brim with the same combination of leaves from yesterday, to be used in case of emergencies.
On my way to the building, I kill a few of the comparatively smaller wildlife and just as yesterday, stuff them with Hedge Ivy leaves.
After reaching the base of the building, I circle the building to check for anything suspicious. It looks like the building was connected to the palace with the help of a corridor that's now broken. The building is covered with a lot of vegetation.
The doors at the entrance of the building are gone just like the auditorium. Decomposition must have set in with no one to take care of them. Remembering the metal plaque that I found at the auditorium's entrance, I clean the walls around the entrance and I found a similar one on this building, and as before I can't read this one either.
I quietly enter the building that opens into a huge room and my sight is immediately drawn to the set of dark blue metal gates that appear to be embedded into the opposite wall of the room.
Just from looking at them, I can say that those metal gates would be in working condition and they seem to be protecting whatever is beyond those gates. They look sturdy and that's a lot of metal, I should probably look into taking that with me when I leave this place.
After admiring the metal gates for a few seconds, I start scrutinizing every inch of the huge room that looks more like a hall.
From how it looks, there used to be some kind of reception table to the left of the room where a partially decomposed table is set. There are rotted remains of what looks like chairs on its either side.
Also, there are remains of what looks like sofas, chairs, and a small coffee table on the other side. Must be for the people waiting.
I carefully search the room and find some gold coins in the bottom desk drawer of the partially decomposed table. I store the gold coins in my pockets for now.
I'm assuming this gold should be the currency of this world, if it is then it would be useful later when I try to enter any town or city. If it isn't then there should be some rich collectors out there who should have the hobby of collecting old and antiquated currency.
The rest of the room is mostly corroded by time. This signifies that either no one has been here for at least quite a few decades or maybe there is some sort of magical fungi that destroys wood in a few years.
But looking at the surrounding ruin my best bet would be the first option.
I move towards the metal gate and try to open it. Although it looks to be in working condition it's stuck due to all the dust and debris accumulated around it. It took a few minutes to clean it up and a few hard pushes to open it.
Whoa.
Behind the gates are shelves upon shelves of books. It seems like this building is some kind of library. Here I was hoping to get lucky and find some kind of source to get some information.
But to find a whole library of them?
Must be my lucky day.
Without further ado, I quickly move towards the first book I could reach and try to take it. The moment I touch the book, it crumbles into dust just like my facial expression.
What the?
Looking at the book that's crumbling in my hands, I couldn't keep my composure.
Okay.
Calm down.
Deep breath.
Deep breath.
Whew.
It takes a few seconds to get my thoughts in order.
What just happened?
I can see all these books in front of me but when I touched the last one, it crumbled to dust.
So what is going on here?
Hmm.
I can think of two cases. Either there is some sort of magic that's being used here to make it look like there are a lot of books or these books are real.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
How do I prove which case is correct?
I don't know much about magic so I can't prove if any kind of magic is being used. But I can check if these books are present here by dumbly checking every book in here.
I know, there may have been other reasons that may cause this situation but I don't know much about magic. And until I know more, I can at least make sure whether these books are real or an illusion by checking every one of them.
Although I don't know anything about magic, I have spades of patience in me to go through all the books one by one.
Before going through the books, I check the entire floor for any enemies. As this place was sealed behind metal gates, not to mention enemies, there isn't even any vegetation inside.
As for the books, I can see that there are eight shelves of equal length on each side connected to the walls opposing each other. And two wall-length shelves connecting the opposite red-colored walls with black-colored stairs at the center.
On the opposite wall, in the exact position from where I entered is another dark blue metal door that should open into the corridor that was connected to the palace-type building. But that corridor has been destroyed by something or someone.
There are a few words written on each shelf. Must be to describe the genre of books on those shelves but I can't read the language.
Then, I begin the tiresome process by touching every book on every shelf starting from where I touched the first book. Most of them crumble similar to the first one.
Without losing hope, I go through all the shelves on the ground floor and there were only two books that remained safe out of at least hundreds if not thousands of books.
These two books look brand new. It's as if someone just bought new ones and put them in here before I entered the building. I open one of them to read but I can't just like the metal plaques.
It looks like I didn't get the "speak, read and write any language of this world because you are from another world" freebie like I read in plenty of novels.
By the time I'm done going through all the books on the ground floor, it's already late and it is starting to turn dark outside. I still can't see in the dark so I quickly close the metal gates and move towards the auditorium to rest for the night.
I can check the rest of the floors tomorrow.
I reach the auditorium and settle down at the entrance to enjoy the nice breeze outside.
Speaking of breeze, even though I can feel the breeze at the auditorium opening, when I enter the building I don't feel anything. This auditorium maintains comfortable room temperature all day even though there is a large opening at the entrance.
It was the same yesterday night. When it was almost chilly outside, this building maintained the same comfortable room temperature as now.
How does it maintain that?
Magic?
Sure, but how?
As for the books, my first problem is I can't read the language written in these two books.
Is it just reading or understanding and speaking too?
If it's all three then it's going to be a problem. I may be able to gain skills and their corresponding levels a little faster when compared to others but that doesn't mean I can just gain them without doing anything.
I have to perform the action that defines a specific skill correctly to gain that skill. I realized that part by trying to visualize myself wielding all kinds of weapons but I didn't get any mastery skills. But when I used stones for throwing or a branch as a staff, I got the required skill after a few attempts.
Similarly, I won't get a skill for understanding, speaking, or reading the language just by looking at it. I should at least be able to employ any of it if I want to unlock the skill. But there's no one here to teach me right now and I'm in dire need of information.
What should I do?
Now that I recall, there was that gift from the system to select one Epic perk for being the first of my species.
Maybe I can find something for my current conundrum on that list. I think about selecting my free perk and the system opens the long list from before. That's a huge list, there seem to be thousands of entries in here. I don't have the time to go through all of them.
Let me see if the system is as intuitive as I think it is. I request the system to show me any perk related to languages and the list shortens considerably but it's still in the hundreds.
Again, I request the system to show me only perks that have an epic grade and those that will help me gain the most I can in this specific field. The huge list became a single option. I check the description and instantly select it.
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Polyglot
Grade : Epic
A gifted linguist, well versed in languages.
Effect :
Helps understand any language as long as one has the minimum quantity of the required material and the time to deduce the respective language.
The time required varies depending on the difficulty of the language and the quantity and quality of material available.
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Hmm.
Epic grade. This is the fifth type of grade I've seen until now.
Common. Uncommon. Legendary. Phantasmal. Epic
These look more and more like rarity ranks.
If that's correct. Then what's the order of their ranks?
As for the Perk, from what I understand, I need to have a minimum quantity of material to trigger this perk. And it also has a maximum limit on how much it can reduce the time required to deduce the language based on the quantity and the quality of the material.
So, I can't just find a piece of paper of an unknown language and learn the language as long as I observe it for the required time or decrease the time required to zero by hoarding different materials in the same language.
Good to know.
Now that I have a perk that helps me understand any new language I can find, I open one of the books I found and look at the unfamiliar language on it.
As soon as I look at it, I intuitively understand that I have to observe this book for a full day without any interruptions to understand the language.
Hmm.
So I need to stare at this bunch of gibberish all day?
I could do that but is there any other way?
I try to think about going through the book with breaks in between instead of continuously looking at it for a whole day. It works but the time required doubles.
Okay, so I need to stare at it for a day without a break or for two days with breaks to learn the language. I can do that.
Just to confirm, I check the other book and it also has the same constraints, both must have been of the same language.
I suddenly recall the golden markings I saw on the floor which caused me a headache. On a hunch, I glance towards the ground thinking about deciphering the language.
The perk responds as the system informs me that I would need at least a year of constant staring at the ground without breaks to understand this language.
Holy!
It's a language. And a difficult one at that if I'm to go by the time required.
I can't stay here for that long just to learn one language. But if it requires a year-long observation to learn the language, it must be a powerful one. At least I hope it is.
I should try and find a way to come back here so that I can learn the language slowly. It may take a few years at least, if I come here to learn this language when I'm not doing anything important but it would be worthwhile if those engravings can be used.
As I'm scanning the markings, the system unexpectedly changes the time required from a year to nine months.
Huh.
I promptly ask the system in my mind why there is a change in time required but I don't get a reply. I try to check where the time requirement changed and think about learning the language, it says nine months.
Now, I slowly move my eyes from those specific runes towards the other ones. As I move away from that specific area, the time required once again changed to a year.
I check the time requirement in those surrounding areas quite a few times and I can confirm that in this specific area the time required is nine months and for the rest of the floor it is a year.
That signifies there are at least two languages to learn here and each one is more difficult and should be respectively more powerful than the other. It may take a few years but I should learn both of them.
For now, I'll learn the language in the books I found in the library.
Name : Janus Arthridge
Race : Human
Level : 0
Bloodline : N / A
Class : N / A
Level : 1
Health : 100 / 100
Stamina : 100 / 100
Mana : 100 / 100
Attributes
Strength : 10
Dexterity : 10
Vitality : 10
Endurance : 10
Resilience : 10
Perception : 10
Intelligence : 10
Wisdom : 10
Willpower : 10
Attribute Points : 5
Skills
Appraisal Lv.1
Stealth Lv.2
Meditation Lv.2
Skill Slots : 7
Perks
Otherworlder
Summoned Being
Polyglot