Edward looked at the black book labeled [The Necromancy Book] in his hand and a smile appeared on his face. This book was his replica of the Book of the Dead after many years of studying.
More importantly, this book was used using [Word Blessing Enchantment] only and contained a massive amount of negative energy inside to replace the power of the underworld.
From the study of the group over the years, negative energy is the fundamental energy produced by death and has a great influence on things like the soul and the undead. Using it, it is easier to manipulate the soul, dead bodies, curse people, and many more.
Using the Necromancy Book that Edward created, a normal person could easily create and control mummies or the undead, enslaved a person's soul, and revive the dead by stealing their souls from the underworld.
Of course, one of the reasons that the last one is possible is because of the fact that all the gods are sleeping and the underworld is on auto-function. Otherwise, that would cause many problems.
As he looked at the book in his hand, Edward had to sigh that all magic systems had their uniqueness and advantages. Additionally, there is usually some connection between each other.
After years of studying the gods' forging, he discovered the essence of their forging method. In some way, it is somewhat similar to the method of the dwarves in his universe.
Most dwarves are not good at enchantment, but they can still refine powerful magical artifacts. The reason for that is that they can process magical ores to their ultimate efficiency, and even bring out their magical properties.
For example, if someone wanted a fire magical item from the dwarves. They would need to bring or pay for ores with fire elements or properties. Then, the dwarves would process that magical ore while retaining the fire property of that ore.
Let's say that they made a sword with that ore, when mana is used in that sword, it could probably shoot fireballs, simply heat up, or the tip of the sword will burst into flames. It all depends on the skill of the dwarf, the rarity of the magical ore used, and other factors.
Nevertheless, it does not change the fact that the dwarves usually do not need enchantment to craft their magical artifacts. However, because of this, they are also restrained by materials in their craftsmanship.
Fortunately, because of this, they have developed numerous alloys and formulas that combined different ores or minerals.
In this universe, the Forging Gods also do the same as the dwarves when it comes to material, but they also add [Word Blessing Enchantments] to further elevate the power of their artifacts.
One of the greatest gains that Edward received during his recent study was that he discovered one of Zeus's Lightning Bolts and he managed to watch how Hephaestus forged them.
This was quite a learning experience.
"Master, with your current ability, you should be able to maximize the Floating City by at least 30%," said Morgana as she appeared next to Edward.
"True," he replied. "If we had enough divine energy, we could completely remodel it to the next level."
Edward looked at the room full of artifacts and sighed. Many of these artifacts were created by powerful Human Sorcerers and he also learned a lot from them. A few of them were created naturally because they were present at some special location or during special events.
While a few were created because of legends created by people long after their existence. The process is similar to gathering faith. Because many myths were created by people over the years regarding certain artifacts, these artifacts then became a reality.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"How long has it been?" asked Edward.
"12 years; it's about the time you told me to watch out for," replied Morgana. "Do you want to go to Peru now?"
"No, I still have to wait for the crash," replied Edward. "What about other supernatural events? Did you discover anything?"
"Yes. I found two secret societies that have been fighting for centuries over magical artifacts all over the world."
"Which one?"
"One is called the Library, while the other is called the Serpent Brotherhood."
Edward pondered deeply as these two words were present in his memory. He remembered that after watching the entire new series of Doctor Who, he searched for shows similar to it online and discovered the library.
He watched all three movies and they were somewhat entertaining. Although nothing compared to Doctor Who, it did somewhat fill the void in his heart. He even knew that there was a series later on but he never watched it.
"The Librarian, Flynn Carsen," muttered Edward. "This is a very intelligent man who also pursues knowledge; he would make a great arcanist. However, he needs to be well-trained and prevented from becoming the Librarian.
"What happened to Hermione and the others?"
"They were also deep in their research and have not left," replied Morgana. Edward was relieved after hearing this. After all, he just spent 10 years completely ignoring his wife.
This could bring him trouble. Luckily, all arcanists became hyper-focused once they enter research mode. And more often than not, they hate being disrupted.
"Master, since you're now done with these artifacts, what are you going to do with them?"
"Recycle them to remove the divine energy inside. Once we find a method to remove the Divine Imprints inside, they will be of great use."
After that, he left.
USA, New York, Metropolitan Public Library:
Edward–who was welled-dressed in a black suit, white shirt, long coat, hat, and a black cane–walked inside the library. As soon as he walked to a special and isolated area of the library, he saw four people waiting for him with a somber looks on their faces.
With a smile on his face, he looked at the two old people in this group and said: "You two must Judson and Charlene. As for you two, you must be the current Librarian and Guardian."
No one answered him for a while before the old man named Judson said: "Sorcerer, why did you come here?"
"So, you're aware of my existence?"
"Numerous artifacts were stolen all over the world from different governments and replaced by a very powerful illusion. We know that it was you who did," said the current Librarian who looked like a suave man in his early 40s.
Edward did not recognize him. After all, he was only aware of three Librarians if you count Judson.
"I'm curious about how you managed to detect me," said Edward. "It must be a very powerful artifact. Let me guess, Haotian Mirror from the Jade Emperor. According to legend, the mirror allowed him to observe all Three Realms.
"Or, maybe one of Odin's Ravens. After all, he used them to spy on information on all the Nine Realms."
No one answered him. Then, the Librarian asked: "What is your purpose in coming here?"
"You know, there is no need for any animosity between the two of us," said Edward calmly. "I only want two things: one is to read all the books in the library. And two, I need the H.G. Wells Time Machine."
"There is no way we would allow this," replied Judson. "Our purpose is to prevent such powers to land on the wrong hand."
"How about we take a step back. I will only study the time machine. You can even supervise me during the entire process," said Edward. However, he could see the determination on these people's faces.
"So many powerful artifacts are in my possession, and yet, for the past 12 years, I have never used them for any nefarious means. I understand that the Library is in a battle between good and evil, and I do not care about that.
"What I want is simply knowledge."
Judson looked at the other people for a moment before saying to Edward.
"I'm afraid that we have to refuse."
"Can I ask why?" asked Edward.
"Ever since you came to this building, I have secretly used an artifact to determine whether you were a good person or not."
"I'm guessing that the result was not to your satisfaction."
"You can say that," replied Judson. "Although your body is covered in a golden hue which symbolized all the good things you have accomplished in your life, this cannot change all the horrifying things you also committed."
What Judson did not say was that he was truly horrified by all the sins that he discovered related to Edward. What made him even more puzzled was the fact that this artifact identified him as a person with good karma.
Meaning that not only did this person commit many sins in his life, he also committed even greater virtues. Judson could not imagine what kind of achievement Edward would have if he did not have these sins.
Of course, he could not imagine that these sins were more often necessary for the virtues he acquired. Well, maybe not necessary but essential.
"It's a shame that we could not come to an understanding," said Edward as he slowly remove the gloves in his hand while transforming his cane into a wand.
(AN: I do not know if there are hard-core fans of the Librarian, but be warned that I only watched the movies and did some basic research on the series. So, the information I have is limited since the series is the one that completely flushed out the lore of the story.