Little by little, a figure began to form and emerge from the purple puddle, though everyone quickly went on guard, soon the entire temple lit up like a Christmas tree and began to resonate like bells.
"What's happening?" Torel asked, exhausted.
"The temple is rejecting the void entity," Alex replied.
Soon the mass emerging, as well as the puddle itself, began to glow white and then disappeared from the temple definitively, along with all other traces of the void.
"What do you mean, we've been fighting against the void practically since we entered, how is it rejecting it now?" Torel asked again.
"That was the purpose of the ritual they were performing. They used a human to mask the nature of their group; however, the ritual they were performing was a ritual designed to consume the nature of this one very slowly, evidently to give the beings of the void time to take what they wanted," Alex replied.
"Alex, you seem very calm. You know you need to explain yourself; after all, the information about void rituals is something only a cultist would know. Would you mind explaining?" Athena asked.
Alex simply rolled his eyes.
"Of course, because having an owl that can transform into an abyssal being is nothing strange," Alex replied.
Athena frowned and replied, "The nature of the Triznados owls does not need to be explained; we have already been accepted by the forest."
"Accepted, sure, whatever. Anyway, it's not my concern. As for where I got the information, he gave it to me," Alex said, pointing his thumb at the book on the altar.
"What do you mean you got the information from the book if you haven't even read it?" Athena couldn't finish her words.
"What is that?" Kragash asked.
"Boy, your luck is simply out of this world," Torel affirmed.
"Well, I come from another world, so it's not a fallacy," Alex said.
"Ms. Athena, what is that?" Kragash asked again.
The group stared at the book on the altar until Athena replied, "That is known as the Universal Codex; it used to contain information about all known magic."
"All magic?" Kragash exclaimed, almost choking.
"That's right," Athena replied.
"And why hasn't anyone found such a powerful object? How come it has no owner if it's known?" Kragash asked.
"It's impossible to possess the book; its magic is too powerful. However, it's known that it would always provide new knowledge to whoever had the good fortune to find it," Athena replied.
"That's not all, is it, Athena?" Alex emphasized.
Athena looked at him, Alex stared fixedly at the book, and she could feel that the young human had contact with the book.
"In fact, as no one could find a way to possess the book a long time ago, the brightest minds found a way to tear knowledge from the book," Alex said.
"Tear?" Torel asked, bewildered.
"That's right, the book usually taught a small portion of knowledge per encounter, and it was incredibly difficult to find it, so a spell capable of extracting a larger portion of information from it was developed," Athena replied.
"Is that really possible, to do that to an artifact that contains all magic?" Kragash asked, astounded.
"Yes, it is. That's exactly what that void entity was doing, trying to extract advanced void spells and rituals from it," Alex replied.
"Anyway, you shouldn't have done what you did. Using void rituals is not something to play with," Athena admonished.
"It was absolutely necessary. I don't like involving others in it, but it was about to tear another part of me," a voice sounded from the altar.
Everyone looked surprised at the source of the voice.
There on the altar where there used to be a book now stood a little girl. The girl had long blonde hair that reached the floor, and there was a peculiarity about her physique, or perhaps many. She was missing a part of her body, or rather many parts. She had no arm, one of her legs only reached halfway, she was missing an eye, and she had no ears. There were missing patches of hair, and in many places, it seemed like her skin had been torn off.
"I am grateful for your intervention, Alex," the little girl nodded in his direction.
"It's my pleasure to help. Honestly, I just wanted to get rid of a threat to my people," Alex replied courteously.
"With regard to your concerns, Athena, the ritual Alex used will not generate any void damage to his body. There was no real risk of contamination since that burden was carried by the one calling himself Solis," the girl assured the Owl.
"I understand. It was just a precaution," Athena replied, stepping back. It was evident that the owl hadn't changed her mind and would reprimand Alex afterward anyway.
"Alex, according to my nature, I must reward you with a random piece of knowledge," the little girl said sadly.
Everyone present noticed the sadness in the little girl as she spoke her words, and they were confused. How could a piece of magical knowledge be a bad thing, even if it were random? The Codex had the ability to teach it as if you were 5 years old, making you fully understand and be able to master magic.
When the Codex sensed the confused looks of all present, it couldn't help but show a bittersweet smile.
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"You see, after so many loots, all I have left are knowledge that humans consider forbidden or dangerous, like the Abyss, the Void, the Devourer, Darkness, the Plague, Necromancy, and the Red Corruption," the Codex replied.
"Ms. Codex, is that really all?" Athena asked confusedly.
What was the Universal Codex? It was a book born of primordial forces, with no beginning or end. All known things were in it, and it was a gift to living beings, to teach and nurture. It had all magical knowledge, but all that was left were those 7 aspects. To think that even much of the evil sections had been torn out, today if they hadn't stopped the Umbravian, even the void chapter would have been torn out.
"Unfortunately, that's all. According to the marks of my birth, I must give you random knowledge, but I'm really willing to make an exception for you, human. You have helped me immensely, so there are some dark knowledge that are not inherently evil. They could help you deal with some threats, although their prolonged use could quickly addict you. They also have some quite unpleasant consequences. Considering everything, I think it's the best I have left," the Codex replied.
"I don't think it's necessary for you to break any of your rules. I don't want to cause you any trouble. Besides, from what I saw, you already gave me random knowledge, so I'm satisfied with this encounter," Alex replied, trying to lighten the mood.
"Alex, are you aware of what you're saying?" Athena asked.
"Honestly, I would like to receive something, but as I've said multiple times before, the reason I'm here is to investigate certain personal matters of Torel's, as well as to expel the invaders. Anything beyond that, I consider myself lucky to get, but I don't stress about not getting it," Alex replied.
"If that's what you want," Athena replied, unconvinced. Regardless of what he received, it would be something that would help him on his journey if he knew how to use it. Although perhaps Alex was aware that having that kind of power would lead to great temptation. In that case, his choice wasn't a bad idea. In the end, Athena came to respect Alex's choice.
"Anyway, what I would like to know is not magical; rather, where is the exit?" Alex asked.
"If you put your hand on that stone there, you will take possession of the temple and thus be able to manifest the exit," the Codex replied.
"Very well, I suppose this is the last time I'll see you. According to what Athena told me, you always change position after an encounter. I wish you the best," Alex bid farewell to the Codex.
Alex's conciliatory attitude continued to amaze everyone, but they had no way of understanding his motivations.
When Alex received the specific knowledge from the Codex, he inadvertently shared parts of his memories, as well as his internal emotions, and what Alex had felt caused such an impact on the Codex that it couldn't help but want to help him, even if only a little.
After all, the Codex was a primordial creation that had emerged along with the first intelligent life, and despite being a mystical being, it represented a unique characteristic of cognitive beings: curiosity. All its impulses were driven by curiosity and its fascination with learning new things. One could say that there would be some malice or indifference on its part when in random encounters it had taught dark or corrupting arts to random people who later became the greatest villains in history. However, from the Codex's perspective, the only thing that was true was that the knowledge generated after learning a new art or technique deepened any art; it only motivated it to keep learning, and that was its sole reason for existing: to provide knowledge so that others generated more knowledge, simultaneously. Or at least it had been until they began to steal its essence, its different parts. From a certain point in history, people had devoted themselves to constantly stealing their knowledge, and the worst thing wasn't that, but the stagnation that had occurred afterward. The people who had stolen its knowledge had created staunch institutions that were dedicated to simply replicating what they had obtained without making any innovation with which the Codex hadn't learned many new things in a long time, which was the part that created more compassion in Alex. Despite all he had suffered, his only grievance came from the fact that he couldn't learn anything new. His innocence was extremely refreshing to Alex.
Alex began to walk towards the altar with the intention of taking possession of the temple and thus finally being able to leave this place. He had many things to do back home, and the work kept piling up. Although he had hoped that after this expedition he could solve one or two problems, in the end, another half dozen things that needed to be reviewed had emerged.
"Um, Alex," a voice suddenly caught the human's attention.
"Yes, is there something else?" Alex asked.
"I was wondering if maybe you would be willing to, how do you say this," the Codex began to ramble, interrupting himself at every phrase. For some reason, it seemed that he couldn't say it or was embarrassed to say it.
"Do you want me to do you a favor?" Alex asked, confused by the situation, giving Athena a look.
The owl replied with a negative, it was evident that Alex wanted to know if situations like this had occurred before, but Athena only knew that the exchanges were very concise and didn't leave room for any further exchange.
For its part, the mannequin of the girl only nodded.
"What do you need?" Alex asked.
"I really want a refuge. Something tells me deep down that if I lose another part of me, I could be forgotten forever," she said in a small, almost imperceptible voice.
Although it seemed like a euphemism, everyone instantly knew what she meant by being forgotten, death.
"Of course, I can do you that favor, but it will really be difficult to help you if I don't know where you'll be after I leave," Alex said apologetically.
The Codex stared into Alex's eyes for a long time, or that's what Alex thought he was doing, since the Codex wasn't a living being, its senses really worked in a completely different way. When it looked at Alex, it didn't see the same image that a normal person would see when looking in a mirror, the Codex could look deeper, deeper into each person, it could even feel small breaths from the past or future.
"The ability you learned is a void substitution ability. It allows a being to erase its essence and thus masquerade as that of another to replace it within a ritual. If we use that, I could deceive the temple with a mark of a living being and could pass as you," the Codex said.
Alex reflected for a few seconds.
"I really don't understand where that will lead us," he finally said.
"Wants to take possession of the temple," Athena replied.
"That's right," the Codex replied shyly.
"There's no problem with that, I believe," Alex replied, shrugging. He really didn't see the problem with that, but he decided to consult with Athena with a glance.
"You should reconsider it. Being the owner of this temple would bring you immense benefits. Although it is true that it is in ruins and that you would need many years to fix it, even so, you could finish demolishing it and obtain the resources and knowledge that remain, which I am sure will not be few," Athena replied.
"I see," Alex replied. The issue of resources did complicate things a bit. Alex needed many resources to wage the war he was fighting. It would be worth giving these resources to the Codex, he wondered.
Finally, he just shook his head.
"Of course, let's do it," he finally replied.
Before Alex took possession of the temple, they used the ritual circles they had used before, and possession of the temple was given to the Codex, masking its essence in that of Alex.
"Before you go, I must warn you one last thing. Although no one who is not present will know what happened here, the void beings that come close enough to you will be able to smell something sweet. It's hard to explain, but they will definitely recognize in you something that could benefit them immensely, so they will surely make you their prey the moment they see you," the Codex told Alex.
"Don't worry, I'm already an enemy of the Void anyway. Well, all of existence is," Alex simply replied.
Finally, the human had finished everything he needed to do here, so the Codex conjured an exit, and Alex, along with all his troops and elven prisoners, finally left the temple. The expedition had been mostly successful, and they had achieved all the objectives and more.
The Codex remained motionless on the altar, watching Alex. He wondered if anyone would realize what he had done, if anyone would ever recognize what had happened.
He had seen through him, he had seen it all, and he simply accepted it. If it had to be, so be it, although he had never interfered in the affairs of the cognitives, only this time did he want to be part of it, he felt deep within himself that it would be necessary.
"Even though it's not in my essence, I can't help but feel these chills."