James opened up the hardcover with greedy hands.
The name of the book is just too damn cool, it has to be a real treasure!
With a deep breath, he had a few thoughts running in his head, some pertaining to the book, some not.
Xerxes was the Second Creator, a self-made deity by factors rather outside his control, so his entire life he was fighting fate to live decently. As a god, things became suddenly quiet, rather, until people sought him out with the intention to fight again.
It was said Xerxes took seven divine steps towards the direct center of the universe from the edge, each step killing many of the apex gods with a swipe of his spear, being annoyed by the entire universe ended up making the guy directly reset it forcibly.
Though no one has ever seen his intervention since, it is implied that because the 3rd creator was his wife reincarnated, the creators are still capable of interacting with this dimension after leaving.
“Though that’s purely guesses, no one really knows,” James said aloud as he started to read the book for its secrets.
On the first page was a short paragraph introducing the book and its intricacies.
Shadows of Fate
Secret Inheritance of Xerxes Last Created Technique
( Magical Divine Arts )
“Holy shit…”, James' thoughts were erratic, and his eyes started to sway from the pure craze, the excitement of gaining a book of divine arts from a creator was simply too much.
James continued reading…
The goal of this book is to escape the sight of fate, known by the ancients as the Heavenly Dao. In this book, using the understanding and workings of Shadow, known also as The Void, gain magical, physical, and complementary abilities focused on a myriad of levels for multiple purposes.
Note by Xerxes: This is my life’s masterpiece, I feel an invisible barrier closing in. Take the book, understand it, and improve it further. There are multiple areas of possibilities to choose, focus on the few rather than the many, at least until you become a celestial.
I feel their gaze… it's not hostile, who are they?
James dropped the book at the last sentence his hands sweaty, his mind stunned, fear at what those words could mean seemed to creep into his mind rapidly.
“What does “I feel their gaze” mean… he was a creator and yet even he was watched by something and couldn’t detect it.
James picked up the book and checked for any damages, that was until he realized that the book seemed to melt into his hands and arms.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Ah right, Divine stuff is quite unique…”.
The book's contents were transferred to two places, one was James’s brain, it was a unique level of understanding, where he could remember what he read previously extremely clearly, and he could think of the book at any time for it to appear and flip to a specific note he was thinking of.
The soul, however, was as if the book tied itself to James. There was an invisible link that chained the two together. On James' side, he could summon the book into reality at any moment, he instinctively knew that he could detonate it, with its physical self transforming into shadow mana, which he could let dissipate or infuse with himself for an advantage in the environment or mana charge.
Neat… could be a game-changer at the right moment, what a unique book, or should I say grimoire? James thought inwardly.
Since the book was imprinted on his soul, he basically had infinite physical copies that had an expiration time of 24 hours. Which after will dissipate into the environment or he could use it as an amplifier to his abilities. Furthermore, there was limited summons as it seemed to put a strain on his soul.
James looked at the system percentage counter on his transparent system screen, it showed that it was only 50%, and with enough time to spare to read a little, James summoned the book back.
It was a black leather-bound book, with its front containing a plain golden Owl with a shiny gold finish. Other than that, there were no other details that could give away the origins of the book.
Opening up, James could no longer see the introductory page, and instead it was a table of contents. Funnily enough, the words also seemed to be of shadow mana, they seemed to shift and stir until his eyes focused on a specific particular area.
“Fascinating, it's like a grimoire, yet purely focused on teaching me techniques, spells, and other divine arts, there are no pages to imprint spellwork,” James said quietly in fascination.
Looking at the table of contents, it seems there are 9-tiers for every ability listed in the book. There is a supposed tenth tier, yet it seems the creator didn’t have enough time or just didn't care to find the answers to what it might be. The supposed tenth-tier, creator-level…
Looking further, James noticed that there were many abilities, yet they were shifting too hard to read, the words looking like a jumbled constant transforming script. There was only one page that looked normal or rather readable.
Looking at the top of the table of contents, James read.
Shadowless Echo
Sounds fancy.
Taking a look at the first part of the book which was about 18-pages long, there were many illustrations, notes, and even philosophical questions. Everything was organized and seemed to be simplified for the easiest understanding. Every word was readable, but contained enormous learning value, enlightening James in the prospect of fate and shadows.
James felt as though his soul was being baptized by simply reading the divine arts book.
30 minutes passed.
A mechanical sound rang loudly in the hall.
[The Start of The Trials has begun, Ascenders, make it to the tenth level to reunite with your families and friends!]
The message rang out another time before James saw a stairwell appear close to where he was. The direct middle of the long decorated hallway seemed to split as it expanded in front of James’s eyes, a wall seemed to raise before a marble staircase appeared.
“I already feel bad for those ducklings, I wish you luck brats.” James chuckled.
Only he knew that the first floor to the tenth was the hardest trial that anyone could face, those of ages between 16 and 60 would be summoned to fight, kill, and survive.
James, though, was just excited to test out his new ability. The book taught James more than just to use Shadowless Echo, it had also taught him to perceive and even “tame” the shadows.
Oh… Xerxes, did you know that the most perfectly compatible person would gain access to these abilities, with the requirement being to befriend the shadows and constantly being mysterious?
An odd rule to be sure, most have to connect to the elements in odd yet simple ways, such as having the ability to control time is only gained by those who have influenced time before unknowingly. Fire often being gained by those who have a strong and passionate emotion towards flames and have been burnt severely before.
The hourglass gave me a strong Time Affinity already, yet this book taught me how to gain the friendship of the shadows as well. The answer to gain the Shadow Affinity?
Simple… Become one.
James at that moment didn’t realize his potential, nor what he would eventually become. There was a notable fact that people one day noticed about James… he always had very few enemies… though he also had few friends, but he didn’t kill those.
“If the goal is to be mysterious, I'll need a mask! Oh, and a nickname! The Prince of Shadows! Nah too flashy. The Shadow Ghost? Hmmm, not grand enough. I need something royal. Lord of Shadows?”
James' voice echoed in the stairwell.