Somewhere where the civilization is still on the cusp of industrialization. Where the machines are simple and engines have yet to be discovered. There was a monastery high in the mountains. Where people once went to glorify their Gods. It is here that a secret that has been passed down through the millennium is kept. A secret, whether purposeful or not, had been long since forgotten. Hidden beneath the ruins there is a book, placed deep in the depths, and sealed behind a stone vault.
Here it has waited since its creation by a mad monk who claimed that all knowledge is contained inside. Legend has it he wrote the massive tome in a single night, while bricked up for an unknown atrocity. He was given this impossible task else he would be executed, on the morrow.
To the shock and horror of the Abbot and other monks, the man succeeded. Being men other there words the monks set him free. But the monks themselves when looking at the book felt something from it, and declared it evil. A book of demons, and unholy light. So they hid it deep in the monastery. Never making it past the first page.
This wasn't the only book created at the same time. All across the globe for every race. Books were created. Each of them is impossible, giant, and supposedly containing all the worldly information, and more frustratingly each of them, ignored.
Contained in a library basement. A nobles collection as a curiosity. Burned by the people for it was evil. Lost at sea. Not a single book after creation was ever read and the creators themselves were unable to remember what was written.
Centuries went by and each book slowly faded to legend and relegated to myth.
Except for one. Hidden under a hill, one that has a surprising amount of documentation surviving the centuries and one man has been reading up on the legends. For years Tsotne Gvasalia has been researching the books and found enough documentation that he was certain the book existed. He spent all of his grant money and most of his own following lead after lead and now all that work was finally paying off. Here he stood in front of the stone door, under a hill.
He and his team spent three weeks trying to open the door, eventually determining the door was never a door. It was a seal. After not a small amount of arguing, they dug around the seal preserving what they could. As the dust fell and the room opened Tsotne spotted his quarry sitting in the center of the vault perfectly preserved.
After widening the whole Tsotne reverently he walked up to the book. He could feel the power radiating off its pages.
He and his team approach as he tosses away years of training to open the book. He sees all the calligraphy and illustrations. Beautiful, and some grotesque. He looks down at the words and blinks.
“What language is this?” He asks his team of scholars, gathered from all over the world. One of them should surely recognize it.
One by one they all look and not a single one could read the writing.
“Sir this was an orthodox Carthusian sect.” One of the linguists finally said.
Tsotne shook his head, “I was really hoping it was any other type.” The Carthusian's orders spoke a dead language that was highly secretive and had died out hundreds of years before. No one left could read the text, or even translate the text.
For the next hundred years, the book would be on display in a museum. With no one able to read the book despite years of study
Somewhere a god is screaming in frustration.
#
In a place just to the right of reality, that place just out of the corner of your eye. A place between Gods and mortals. Here a group of frustrated deities are discussing a book.
“Why won't anybody read the damn books?!” Thoth the world's God of knowledge was screaming at the mortals on the earthly plain. He was a plain-looking human man with an unassuming face.
Ouranos, the sky God, an amorphous nebula constantly shifting, spoke with her voice of bells, “It's more like can't now.”
“Three of them are in the common tongue. Why couldn't they find one of those?!” Thoth yelled frustrated.
“Because they were declared heretical,” Ouranos stated simply.
Thoth turned and eyed her. “And who's fault is that?”
Valley God of the Earth, a clay golem with the ears and tails of a badger but otherwise human-looking stood between the two. “All of ours. If we didn't have that damn game a few centuries back.”
Thoth looked between all the Gods gathered there. Clara had yet to speak but if it had nothing to do with their forests or swamps she wouldn’t care. Except even she looked frustrated. Her willow leaf hair curled and eyes of changing leaves, as her form shaped from vines changed from species to species. Thoth wished he could point the blame to one of them but couldn’t they all had done it to themselves. “I know I know.” He let out a long breath. “But they need magic. We can't do anything. To help until somebody reads the stupid books.”
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“What can we do?” Ouranos asked as she turned a sad blue.
“I don't know.”
Clara chimed playfully. “Well, I do have some good news.”
“What?” Thoth turned hopeful.
“Thanks to locking all the world's magic into the books. The rifts are having a hard time opening.”
Thoth stared at Clara. “That's not good news. They are still opening.”
“But we have time.” Clara, she commented.
“How much? A year, a decade, a century?” Thoth asked genuinely hoping for an answer.
Clara just shrugged. “Could be any of them.”
Thoth growled in frustration. “You are making this really hard. Do you have an idea or something?”
“Dreams.”
“We tried that. It took thirty years for him to find the book, and it's in the wrong language.”
“That's not my fault.” Clara glared at Thoth till he shrank.
“He ignored my directions for the ones written in common.”
“Can’t we just send a soul down, with explicit directions?” Ouranos chimed.
Valley shook his head before shooting down the idea. “We don't have enough magic for them to retain memories. We locked too much away. We can't even send a champion. We may need to reach out”
Thoth tilted his head confused. “To who?”
Valley looked down at a very old business card. It read, Hero Delivery.
#
Huh? What? Where am I? Nicki suddenly appeared falling on his back in a strange place between, real and unreal. A place outside the world and yet part of it.
He looked around feeling like he was on an acid trip with the world ever warping around him yet solid. Seeing things he wasn’t meant to see. Then he closed his eyes and took a breath steading himself for the unreality, like he learned in the tutorial. He used the time to try to remember what happened. Last I remember I was giving a system to that horror guy...and sending him somewhere. Then... no that was yesterday. I was checking my email and opened one asking for consultation, then clicked the link. Nicki’s eyes shot open the world steadied as he pushed himself to his feet. That was when he noticed the strange beings staring at him looking nonplussed.
“Uh, hi?”
Broken out of the strange pause the most human-looking person spoke, “Who are you, and how did you get here?”
“I'm Nicki. And I think I’m here for a consultation. Wherever here is.” Nicki was trying to take it all in.
A voice of bells, “This is our godly domain. And it should be impossible for you to be here.” Nicki did his best not to stare at the floating Nebula but its voice was so strange.
“Especially without us summoning you.” The humanoid answered.
“God's?” He looked around the ever-changing world. That would explain things. Maybe I should have expected this.
A heavy pressure descended on Nicki as one of the stared Nicki down.
Frantic the boy searched for something when he remembered something from the tutorial. “Uh...” He was beginning to panic when he suddenly remembered. “Wait!” The pressure ebbed slightly. There was something for situations like this. Now how did it go? Nicki closed his eyes and pulled on his powers willing into being a simple business card, and quickly handed it to the closest God which happened to be the clay golem deity.
Hero Inc.
Nicholas Knight
From Summonings to Systems. One-stop for all your Hero Needs.
Nicki was still work shopping his tag line.
The deity stared at the card mouth agape, “What's this?”
“My business card.” He held it for the man to take. Please understand what it is.
The golem appeared confused as his entire face molded into confusion and curiosity. “And what is a Hero?”
Nicki didn’t really know how to fully explain it, “A person who comes from another world to save the new one.”
The clay god shocked asked, “How did you know?”
“Know what?”
The golem stared down at Nicki, “That we needed help.”
“Got an email and I clicked the link.”
#
On a planet where twenty-one different books containing all the world's knowledge were written and yet never read. Each holding a piece of something beyond mortal ken. There is a highly famous museum filled with ancient treasures, historical artifacts, and most importantly one of the books of knowledge. One written in a long-forgotten language, and here it has sat for the last eighty years since its discovery. No one was able to read a single word.
Underneath the book's glass case is a little plaque telling people where it came from. To the left of the book was a broken door half restored to what it once was, having been damaged in transit. Upon it was an illustration that appeared to be some type of unholy creature.
The rest of the room was filled with photographs of the pages all around, and they were beautiful.
This display had always brought people to the museum having a fascinating quality to it almost like an art exhibit, the people being drawn to it. Some could almost feel the knowledge hidden just beyond their language. The words, almost legible, to anyone who experienced the phenomenon, would say it was like nothing else.
Today though.
Today something was happening in twenty-one spots all across the globe. Bright white Light began to shine bright and people quickly found themselves inexplicably drawn to them. Like there was something there. The strongest feeling of all was in the museum where hundreds of visitors witnessed the glow coming from the book and the hundreds of page scans scattered about the room. Then suddenly the glow shifted dimming and materializing into a floating screen in front of the pages. Suddenly, via the screens, the pages could now be read.
And once the people began to read they couldn't stop. Hundreds locked in place mesmerized. As were the people who happen to be looking at the pages online or those who found any of the other twenty books. Each and every one of them were being read by someone.
When they finished hours later something washed out over the world. Everyone could feel it but no one knew what it was until a blue screen popped up in front of them all.
System initializing…magic unlocked.
#
Just outside of reality, a man lets out a long sigh of relief. Glad that worked. Now how do I get back? Nicki wondered while the Gods watched the mortals, completely ignoring Nicki.
Maybe I just need a door. It was an idea. “Hey, do you guys. Have a door anywhere?” He asked.
He got a curt “No.” From one the from the living forest.
A bit rude, you guys never even told me your names. “Hmmm.” If there is no door how am I going to... Nicki wandered around the domain when he spotted something. Oh there's one. He saw a nice solid generic wooden door just to his right. I guess they were just messing with me. He walked up to the door and not wanting to be rude called back.
Thank you for your business. If you ever need a Hero, we at Hero Inc. Are here for you.”
“Yeah yeah.” The human deity said dismissively before turning looking concerned. “Is that a door?”
But Nicki had already stepped through as the door vanished like it never was.
* * *