I finished my interview with Radix; successfully cultivating the image I wanted to give. After being brought back to my own desolate room I acted like I was tired and went to lie down on the bed, settling down and getting comfortable I closed my eyes and pondered on what I should do next. I had finished all of the immediate things I had to do and had some free time to do whatever I wanted.
Unfortunately I couldn’t really do anything in my room because I was being monitored and recorded, this really limited the kinds of activities that I could do, however the biggest restriction was my age, a five year old can’t do magic. So I only really had one option and that was The Ever Present Archives.
The Ever Present Archives, or just The Archives for short, was a place that had vast amounts of knowledge stored within its walls and could be accessed even here in my room. In order to get into The Archives one first had to have a pass that would transport the user's mind into The Archives.
I didn’t have one of these physical passes, but I did have a blessing, (Blessing; The Ever Present Archives Level 1 Infinite Pass): Accessible through mana meditation, with the Level 1 Infinite Pass everything at or below Level 1 in The Ever Present Archives is free.
This blessing was the key to everything that I had accomplished in my life. If I didn’t have this pass I would never have been able to escape from my captors, and I wouldn’t have been able to travel back in time either. Thankfully I am able to enter The Archives without being detected by anyone, so I’ll spend my time trying to do something productive there.
Focusing on my mana core I sensed a deep lack of most of what I used to have, spells and constructs and multicolored mana nebulas. I felt a slight pain in my heart for all the things I had given up to come back in time but it soon passed and I focused on the red gem-like pass floating in my mana core. I mentally grabbed it and felt a question come to me, asking if I wanted to use the pass; I answered yes.
I felt the familiar sensation of my mind being swept away and arrived inside of my personal room in The Archives. The room was nothing special, just a place where I could change what my avatar was wearing and a few other minor functions before actually entering The Archives. I changed into some comfortable robes and put on a ruby red mask that was barely three fingers wide. The mask ran like a thin bandana across my eyes hiding them but still showing most of my face without actually obstructing my vision.
After changing my getup I stepped through the doors of my room and into the grand hall of The Archives. Most of the flooring was made up of large stone tiles with different lounging areas scattered throughout the grand hall, some with carpet and furniture, and even a few oasis-like areas filled with plants and vegetation. Surrounding the grand hall were shelves filled with books, stone tablets, scrolls, and many different types of information repositories as well as obelisks and other monuments filled with knowledge. The shelved areas went on seemingly forever and functioned like a shifting labyrinth which slowly led you to what you were searching for as you walked through it.
There were many different floors in the shelved areas leading all the way up to the top, but the grand hall was completely open up to the clear crystal glass ceiling showing an amazing view of a black night sky filled with stars, celestial objects, galaxies, and other celestial phenomena.
After taking a few seconds to take in the beautiful view just like I always did, I walked over to a carpeted lounging area and grabbed a rectangular device similar to a tablet from Earth. It was held in a holding center in the middle of the carpeted area and after getting it I sat down on one of the comfortable seats and familiarly navigated my way through the tablet. I spent my time looking at the recent news in Tallen, the country I was in, and some of the surrounding countries to try and get a grasp on where I should focus my attention and future plans.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
After browsing through the news for a few hours I sensed someone sitting on a nearby chair and I looked up to see who it was. To my surprise it was a little girl not much older than me. She had blond hair with some very light blue streaks that almost blended in, and her eyes had a deep amethyst color. She looked extremely familiar to me, but I had never seen her in The Archives in the future so I didn’t know where the familiarity came from. I decided to strike up a conversation to ease my curiosity and hopefully find the answer.
“Hello there. It’s rare for young people to get the opportunity to come to The Archives so I’m surprised to see you here.”
While holding her own tablet she looked at me in the ‘eyes’ and said, “That’s right I’ve never seen someone my age in The Archives either. Are you just visiting temporarily?”
“No actually. I have permanent access to The Archives but this is the first day I’m coming here. What about you, are you only a temporary visitor?”
Her face showed some poorly concealed pride as she said, “Nope, I have a permanent access card and I’ve been coming here for a few months already.”
Permanent access? Then why haven’t I seen her here in the future? Probing further I said, “Wow you must be from a powerful family if you have permanent access. You do seem a bit familiar but I can’t quite remember who you are. Are you a Tallen noble by any chance? I’m from nobility myself, so how about we tell each other our names.”
She made a face while saying, “I don’t know, my parents said that I shouldn’t tell anyone who I am in The Archives because I’m not an adult yet.”
Seeing that she was reluctant I said, “If you feel that it’s too much to say you don’t have to, I just thought it might be nice to have a friend in The Archives that’s around my same age.”
She seemed to be reasoning with herself as she said, “Well we are both kids… and it would be nice to have a friend. You know what, how about if you tell me your name first and then I’ll tell you my name. But you have to swear that you won’t tell anybody else my name.”
I smiled at her naivety and said, “Alright, but you also have to swear that you won’t tell anyone my name too.”
After she nodded her head I said, “My name is Radiant Shadow and I’m five years old, what about you?” I was glad that I was going to be able to satisfy my curiosity. I could’ve spent the time to go back through my memories finding out who she was, but I would rather enjoy a good conversation instead.
“My name is Genesis Rotthall and I’m eight years old.”
As she said her name various memories connected in my head and I thought, It can’t be. But Genesis wasn’t a noble. Although she did say that she didn’t like to talk about her past… During the time I spent working under the Tallen government I sometimes interacted with someone named Genesis who worked as a sort of law enforcer. As I recalled these memories the interaction I had right before I came back in time also jumped into my head and it suddenly clicked that I must’ve been talking to Genesis, she was a powerful mind mage after all.
Looking at this innocent eight year old Genesis, I wondered how she could have gone from having permanent access to a place as valuable as The Ever Present Archives to working as an enforcer for the Tallen government.
I didn’t have to solve this mystery right this moment, so I decided to keep it in mind as I said, “Ah Genesis I think I have heard of you. It’s nice to make your acquaintance and I hope we can become friends.”
She smiled and said, “Me too.”
Perhaps she might be able to help me out with some of my future plans. But for now I’ll just be her friend and see where it goes. If I recall correctly Genesis said she never had any friends. Maybe I’ll be able to change her future and get a friend in the nobility. It would take some patience and time, but I was pretty much an expert in that area.