By this point, Lisa long disappeared from her previous spot, and rather floated closer, hiding right behind Murai's head for the sake of viewing this tome.
She had nothing to gain from this, but her curiosity got hold of her. She will read it all since nothing much can harm her on a physical level, and getting to know more things like this was her privilege as a life companion.
Table of the Content was the following.
Chapter 1 - Introduction of the base of the Inferno.
Subchapter A - The Beginning of the Flame
Subchapter B - Familiarity with the Mana Core, the Flame, or the potency as a Handler.
Subchapter C - Getting stronger
Subchapter D - Flame Shaping
Chapter 2 - Mana Inferno
Subchapter A - A core idea
Subchapter B - Intent
Subchapter C - Mindless Shaping
Chapter 3 - Beyond the Inferno
Subchapter A - Techniques
Subchapter B - Runes
Subchapter C - Bloodlines
Subchapter D - Mana Core
Chapter 4 - Hints of the Greater Destruction
Subchapter A - Flame
Subchapter B - Disintegration
Subchapter C - Annihilation
Subchapter D - Conjuration
Chapter 5 - History of Me, Great Rudolf, and Comprehension of Old and New
Subchapter A - Mana
Subchapter B - Battleworld
Subchapter C - Abilities
Subchapter D - world, evolution, and Fusion
Chapter 6 - PRIMAL
Chapter 7 - ALIGNING
Any of the chapters didn't surprise Murai's beginning read. There wasn't anything that was out of his touch, and everything made sense. It seemed Rudolf included a lot of things, while the meaning of Flame and Inferno made things rather interesting. However, there weren't that many new things, making it less useful for him.
Chapter 7 was the end of the Table of the Content, and Murai figured out what Rudolf meant before. The last 2 chapters, as well as the two words that his welcoming message spoke of, were quite clearly intended to be special.
They were the words for a hint and the initiation of some form of runes within this tome. They were hiding secrets. That, or it's a wordy effort that was hiding meaning that Gods weren't supposed to know? They could also start some strange processing under the secrets of this tome's intent.
Murai speculated that the answer was hiding certain secrets that Rudolf decided to hide for the better of him or the readers of these tomes. No one should utter them or speak of them since they were a secret. Murai probably knew it was the case since the Gods were watching... He bet they would since Rudolf mentioned them too. Whatever it was hiding, whether it was good or not, wasn't important.
Murai knew what to expect. Certain secrets regarding the Gods or something that Rudolf feared to include openly, in fear of God's knowledge, or interventions. That was why he pulled this secrecy to the last 2 chapters. For the time being, Murai wasn't interested in them, since he already pissed off a god, so others should wait for their turn.
That was at least his assumption so Murai dived to Chapter 1 and a bit further. He wanted to have a quick glance at what Rudolf was dealing with, and if he managed to get something new out of this life in the Battleworld. The Chapters themselves may not speak sense, but many things can become clear and detailed within them.
And as he expected, what he was reading was good, yet not groundbreaking. The terms of Inferno were a tier of the information above the Flame. They weren't the least bit confusing or unfamiliar to him The base knowledge of the Inferno and the Flame was something Murai was very familiar with thanks to the life he had with Rudolf as his student. Though this didn't include his lives, let alone the present life, which should be quite unique. His life as an Anatidae can lead to some differences and new comprehension. Perhaps even Rudolf also gained a lot from this life, which in turn, could mean new additions to his Path and knowledge.
Murai spent some time reading the first few chapters, while Lisa was doing the same, hiding behind his back, frowning.
“Those seem like some very generic ways to teach magic to someone,” Lisa commented. “It's no intent and written words alone. Is it really a Grade-A Tome? From the way of the words, it isn't but there is nothing about it that screams... something. Tomes are not like this. Not now.” she said in disappointment, causing Murai to look at her in annoyance.
Listen here... Let me ask and tell you something, Lisa. He willed and then spoke with his regular quacks. “What kind of magic do the demons have and how hard is it to create a tome like this one, in general? It's just the beginner chapters for now, but what do you know about the complexities of later ones? Have you ever seen the whole documentation of the structural magic in the appearance of a tome? Or the one that storms around the whole perception of one Path? There are some basics needed for the sake of the later complexity. That's how it should be like.”
“What do you mean? You just speak of the fundamentals. This is common sense about the tomes, but this... seems more like Elemental Tome, or partial Path Tome. It's rather disappointing since it takes too long to reveal the talks of magic. Why not skip later to the better stuff? That should be to your liking, since your.... soul, and everything is so strong.”
“Hm... Strong. What about you, Lisa?” Murai asked. “Have you been firm in your Path?”
“I was Succubus, and those have plenty of powerful magic powers. Some of us could even have many bloodlines and evolutionary pathways like you, but those are strictly kept in unique branches and individuals.”
You didn't have it as s Blessed?
“I had no need for it. I was Blessed, but not the kind who was firmly set on the evolution side of things. As a Succubus of Queens' blood? No. I didn't have a need for any of that because I had plenty of talents outside of that. Magic and Enchanting were more up to my tastes, while the blood and feeling of it is another. Power as I saw fit. That's the kind of Path I saw.” Lisa replied, puffing her chest in importance and pride.
Oh. Is that so? Murai couldn't care less about her appeal on this matter since it wasn't important what she was or wasn't in her previous life.
“Come on, Murai Hisagi. I am telling you this because you asked that. So how about listening to my words and explanations a bit more?” Lisa said to him, pouting at his dismissive attitude.
Murai sneered inside and completely ignored her for the sake of his reading. It took quite some minutes before Lisa couldn't take this anymore, causing her to fly to the front of the tome.
“Fine! You said it. You asked it. I know a lot about Battleworld, and you are so curious about it as well. You are totally oblivious to that anyway. Demons and magic were what you want to know, right? More? I know a whole lot of things, I swear. Dark Magic is also included in your memories, isn't it? Many things too? Like... Greater Runes? Paths of Laws, even? I can't even talk about the specifics right now... Ummm. I don't know you...” she scratched her head awkwardly, figuring that she snapped in a moment that wasn't necessary.
Murai gave her a simple nod amidst his chuckling self.
“Then you should know the plenty... of... differences?” Lisa stopped talking, realizing something stupid on her part.
Murai knew a lot about magic already. Maybe a bit too much, causing any of her knowledge in this region to be somewhat diminished. She was a succubus but not the one dedicated to the road of conventional magic like Murai was. She was a more physical type of mage. A highly capable fighter in terms of weapons, and abilities surroundings them.
Use of her body was her strongest forte, though. Her flying skills too, as well as her repertoire of Enchanting Magic, made her powerful in terms of battle power.
As for what she could teach, or say to Murai, it won't be something that he would find worth hearing. At least in the terms of magic, while the terms of this world were something else. It was an obvious realization that was probably already happening to her every so often since she met him. Her knowledge of the conventional path of magic was kind of lacking, but she didn't want to admit it herself. Adding the species' abilities, and unique circumstances Murai had, she wasn't fit to talk about a lot of things.
You, Lisa. Murai pointed his beak closer to her. “You seem to talk a lot at some times and most often than not, it's either you are thinking too much about my worries or you consider yourself too much. Universe has many experts and even this Battleworld must be bigger than you ever knew. I will give you a topic to reconsider your choices. It's right. My soul went through countless things, as you are probably aware of it, but are hiding this topic in your head. I experienced enough in them which makes your words kind of lacking, but context matters. There are some things that you will undoubtedly help me with, and I need you - albeit in a subjective matter. It's simple. Sometimes, you are not needed at all and that is something you should be aware of.“ Murai said, indicating the honest truth that he was thinking of, ever since he met her.
Lisa glared at Murai, floating above the tome's surface. She heard his words enough, but she had no idea how to respond to them. Of course, she had some pride in herself, as any succubus would, but hearing this sort of... magnitude of intent was rather new to her. It would be weird if it wouldn't be the case since she was always a proud figure in the world she was part of. All the succubi were like that, and it didn't change much in her life as a Soul Form.
In fact, it solidified her loftiness, since not many people ever got to have another chance at living in the Battleworld. She was aware of that, and her ego wasn't hurt by that, but by Murai's words. She heard their honesty, as well as... too much honesty. He believed in everything and spoke the truth. She could be useful, but it depended on how she could perceive her own worth while becoming a life companion of another Blessed.
It wasn't a problem in this sense, since it was rewarding in itself. Seeing life in another form than her past self was always worth seeking.
Do you not know how to feel and answer the truth? I am not self-righteous either, Lisa. Murai continued. “I am an asshole, prick, and not some nosy brat. Knowing the truth about yourself shouldn't hurt as it is honest. Wanna see my memories? Too bad, I won't let them to you. They are mine and you are unworthy of that. Get it?” Murai said again, forcing his words to sound truthful, as harsh as they sounded like the quacks.
“Accept this and stop being so annoying. Your imperfections for the sake of our partnership should be fine, but a change of attitude is long overdue.” Murai said the harsh truth, which Lisa bitterly accepted after some struggle within her face and thoughts.
So much so, that she flickered her head away, and unhappily accepted his words by flying to the water to not hear him any longer. She accepted it in silence, which was rare.
Murai didn't care one bit about her issues. His words may have been long overdue, but he never felt the need to take the initiative in this sort of problem. He felt it was needed in this companionship, which was rather poor to his standards. After a couple of moments of glancing at Lisa's back, he went back to his reading since he was more curious about Rudolf's experiences than her problems.
It would lead to much more than he wished for, but the harsh truth or facts didn't matter to him. Murai was long beyond the motion of caring about such problems. The number of lives he had was too much for one's mind, so he learned how to act with what was important and what wasn't.
Going over the beginning and middle sections, Murai didn't read anything shocking to startle his mind. Rudolf's overview was pretty much the same as his apprenticeships with him. It was the general overview of the elemental flame magic which amounted to nothing much but getting familiar with the flame within the core and subsequent work.
It was later ones, which piqued his interest in their topic.
Hm... This is strange. Rudolf figured out the methods around the Law long before coming to this world. Was he like me, and become Blessed or something else? This... This is intriguing since the Gods shouldn't be involved in this process, or... I don't know. Afterlife is difficult to comprehend. I have only a few flashes of that place anyway, and their context doesn't matter to me. Rudulf hated those pricks called gods, so what to take out of this tome's hidden context? Maybe the latter chapters of those two rune unlocks should speak about it. That would be so much like him to include some secrets for the future holders of these 10 tomes, but why... Why did he do this? Was his Path ending? What happened?
Murai had various thoughts from this tome and spent the rest of the day going over the chapters that Rudolf left to the fated one.
Much later, Murai shut the tome in chapter 4 with his beak and figured one thing from this. Rudolf was most likely dead.
It wouldn't be surprising, but his lineage may go on. Probably... but I will look out for them if I will see and hear about them. Let this be a good way of karma, or whatever it was that he believed in. He thought after dismissing this tome that didn't shake him all that much. He got a few things from that, but it wasn't enough for his current power to use.
Everything was subject to lesser interest by his powerful soul that perceived countless memories. It made sense, but Murai wasn't inclined to read further into the topics of the latest chapters. Particularly some subchapters weren't of much interest, and he was yet to move to chapters 5 while 6 and 7 were left blank.
Glancing around the big cave, Murai noticed still sitting Lisa in front of the underground lake, floating close to it in a melancholic silence.
Water was glistering, making her appearance visible in the water. She was like this for a long time, yet she was calmer the further she looked at her glistering face made of mana. Then, it was obliterated, when the appearance of a duck appeared behind her mirrored self.
“What do you want?” Lisa asked. “You aren't getting rid of me that easily, you know? I am stubborn, while your words were yours. I just let you have your pleasant times with that strange tome since your words were... that. Being willing to listen to me seems like a hard thing for you. I get it. Speaking some sense to me is also a hard thing, but you want it. I get it too. So?” she said, not willing to turn her front to him. The water surface should be sufficient to see him, and it was.
“I spoke some sense to you already,” Murai answered, watching the water as well. “That is enough for me, so whether you like it or not is not up to me, but you.”
“And that is exactly what makes me mad!” she said in frustration, frowning at the water that made her image rather strange to herself. She was a small, tiny Soul Form that had no power in itself. She was insignificant, yet her ego and mental view of herself were higher than the sky itself.
“Oh, so you are the one of those who hate the truth? I wonder what was your life as a Succubus with Queen's blood in this case, but... those aren't the righteous folk. Betrayal, death, and plot are their forte, aren't they? You... You may be even plotting something against me, don't you? How funny.” Murai sneered and walked close to Lisa's front. He caused the water to splash, making her mirrored self disappear.
“So what if it is? I am not like that anymore, hmph!” she puffed her chest, making it bigger than it was.
“Yeah? That was another lie.” Murai sneered, noticing her annoyed tone.
“So what if I am a liar? At least when I am speaking to you, I am honest, albeit to some extent. It is important for you to be powerful so you won't die. That also includes me because I would die too if things go wrong. That is the reason why I am like this but... Maybe I was wrong? Maybe... most likely... I don't like to admit it.” Lisa said, hugging her knees and floating on countless little stones that made this "beach".
A small change was becoming to turn brighter in her mind, but it may take some time to get familiar with this strange power dynamic. She wasn't useful, nor some lofty character of the Battleworld any longer. This was her restart of life to a certain extent, and she already wasted it with a useless point of view that was no longer useful.
Murai said what he should, and it was time to make it better. It wasn't up to him but it wasn't for her sake, as he said.
Lisa had a lot to gain in the future, after all.