The cold of the floor pressed on Rick's face, his head throbbed with a dull pain. He lay there for a moment, eyes closed.

Ding Ding Ding

'Shut up,' he cursed, as the cacophony of notifications aggravated his headache.

[Quest Completed!]

[Congratulations on conquering the City Central Library!]

[Quest reward: Ownership of the Territory]

[Congratulation!]

[You have acquired the "Signet"]

[Congratulation!]

[You have acquired the Lemegeton]

[Congratulation on being the first to clear a dungeon]

[Reward: 2 Blessed Stones]

[Congratulation on being the first to acquire a Paragon Artifact]

[Reward: 15 Blessed Stones]

[Skill: Negotiator has been learnt]

'What's the point,' Rick lamented, 'All I got out of this is a blade hanging over my head.'

Sigh, he let out a heavy breath and finally opened his eyes in slits. After a few moments of blinking his eyes finally adjusted to the sudden blinding light.

Only then did he have the opportunity to look around. He was on splayed on the floor like in a murder scene, with one hand over his head.

"Ugh," he gruntled lifting his head up. On his hand was the grimoire Lemegeton and on his finger was the Signet.

He pushed himself off the ground and stood up straight. There was no one there. He glanced around the hall.

"Aah!" he squeaked in fright, the four Kings were still in the hall kneeling before him in their exquisite armour.

'Sol, was right, they really do consider me to be their overlord,' a smile crept up his face thinking about it. But the next moment it disappeared, 'How am I supposed to prove my strength comparable to these monsters in one year's time!'

The four must have realised Rick was staring at them, for they immediately started off.

"Have mercy on us, Master" The metal-bodied First King spoke with his head bowed. "We were just being cautious."

"We were just following your commands to protect your artifacts, Master," the goat-limbed Fourth continued.

"We had no idea that you had to take..." The Kings gabbled on about how sorry they were for stepping on Rick's honour and deserved to be punished

'How the hell do I even punish you?' Rick thought, brooding. Shaking his head at the ruckus before him he decided, 'Might as well put on a show.'

"Enough of your excuses!" Rick bellowed, waving his hand, "I do not want to mount heads on spikes on my first day here, so I will let this one slide. And only because your insolence towards me was in concert for your desire to uphold your Master's dignity."

"Yes, Master. We had no idea you had even returned. And your strength has only grown more magnificent," the First King started off again, "We communicated with the lower demons and only then did we realise that you passed through to reach here without killing even a single of our Legions of Demons. None of the lower demons could even sense you passing by them."

'Well, this is a helpful explanation they have come up with,' Rick thanked his lucky stars. He had been breaking his head on how he would explain his arrival on the Eighth floor of the Library without going through the fi demons in the lower floors.

"But, Master why didn't you just call for us?" The mist covered Third king interrupted Rick's thoughts.

"That was actually a part of my plan," Rick replied with a smile, masking his displeasure, "I am not your Mater, but rather his handpicked successor. And to quell any thoughts of a rebellion, I had to make a small display of my strength, didn't I?"

As he said this, he looked straight at the Third King, making him look away.

'Better not confuse with names. Besides I don't want people confusing my name later,' Rick mused. He had otherwise thought he would keep up the pretence of being their Master. But now that he met Sol, he did not like the idea of impersonating someone else.

The four Kings looked at each other wide-eyed. They were not sure if even their old Master would be able to pass through the demon horde without being sensed. The four kings felt like this young successor was a greater demon himself!

"I am leaving for now," Rick proclaimed, turning around and then with a glance over his shoulder continued, "Or do I need your permissions to do that?"

"Never,"

"How could we,"

"No no no,"

"We would not dare to stand in your way." the four replied simultaneously.

He walked ahead, but then stopped in his tracks

"Hmm! Good. You all are to stay here but you are not to leave this place, especially the four of you," Rick ordered but after a second thought added, "And do not let anyone who doesn't know my name enter."

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Saying this, he continued to march ahead, without daring to look back. He heard a call from behind, it was the Fourth King, "But Young Master, we don't know your name."

He halts his walk and realising his mistake, replied "It's Rick. Rick Hanique."

He rushed towards the majestic double-doors behind without a pause. With an effortless push the door open to a bright light making RIck squint. In the blink of an eye he found himself standing on the pavement outside, the sky blue as before and the wind on his face, he was at the gates looking at the City Central Library.

"How long was I in there, it felt like ages," he quickly checked the watch on his wrist. "It is just eleven?" Rick was taken aback, it had barely been two hours since he had entered the library.

Ding

Ding

The sound of two new notifications interrupted his thought

[The proficiency of the Skill: Negotiator has increased]

[You have exited the "City Central Library Dungeon"]

[You have acquired one City Central Library Entrance Portal]

'Later', he mumbled, exhausted, closing them and stuffed the Lemegeton in his pocket.

He swiftly walked out of the gates to his red bicycle and unlocked it. He propped himself down and cycled down the road.

Glancing back at the looming building behind him, anxiety gripped him, 'I will have to return to this hell-hole again.'

----------------------------------------------

As he peddled through the road back home, Rick was surprised to see the empty deserted streets with the few people he saw arguing in the middle of the road or worse, he saw one even throw a stone into a house. While the roads themselves were lined with abandoned cars with the doors still open.

"Things really went to shit," Rick mumbled under his breath. Ever since the Heaven's Dictate, he had been stuck at the Library with no idea as to what was going on outside.

In a few moment's time, he reached the blue roofed house and he quickly peddled his way into the driveway of his home. He left the cycle behind and rushed in.

"Hey sis, are you there? Where are you?" Rick shouted, rushing in through the door, expecting the worst.

"Hey, you are back early!" Samira, Rick's sister replied looking up from the dining table.

Rick stopped, clutching his knees exhausted.

"Why did you not take your phone with you? And why are you all ruffed up? Did someone give you trouble in the Library?" Samira spoke looking at Rick's condition and then leaving the mobile down she continued, " Or did you go somewhere else?"

"Did you not hear the voice?" Rick spoke in gasps, "Have you seen what's going on outside? I was worried."

"I know, I was about to leave the house when it happened," she replied, her voice softened, "That's why I am asking you. If anyone gave you any trouble, tell me. We have to be honest with each other, we are the only family we have."

Catching his breath Rick sat down on the sofa. He realised Samira must have been worried about him just as he was about her. With a sheepish smile, "I am fine, I rushed back worried about you."

"Bhaha," she laughed out, "What would you even do?"

Her infectious laughter caught onto Rick, and his anxiety faded away as he started howling in laughter as well. It took the siblings minutes before they finally caught their breaths and calmed down.

"So, what has happened since? Was the voice in the sky telling the truth?" Rick asked, "I was in the library for just two hours, but the world seems to have completely changed." Rick decided to just go with a white-lie and not freak Samira out.

"Well, have you checked the news?" Samira gestured at the television with her face.

Rick shook his head no.

"At least its true that the world has changed." Samira started, "BBC reported animals from zoos and even pets mutating, and they have turned carnivorous. Even plants have started mutating into something their experts have no idea what it is."

"Oh, and you know the Jawal Zoo? The animals there broke their cages and ate the reporters who were filming it live. They were eaten whole! " Samira continued, "And on top of that, people have suddenly found themselves in something called Dungeons apparently. And do you know who the news channels got as experts for that? An e-sport guy."

He nods his head, listening to Samira with rapt attention.

"What did the President say about it?" Rick asked her.

"Well, the spokesperson first came out and said they had everything under control, but then an hour later he was arrested for killing her," Samira recalled what she had heard, ""Although the government still shouting that everyone maintains calm, they are losing their grasp on power fast. There are human calling themselves Hero's and they have some cool skills appearing everywhere. One guy even learnt a skill which lets him fly, or at least hovers if not fly.

Rick's ears perked up, and he asked, "Fly?"

"Yea," she replied.

"So why did I get shitty skills?", Rick murmured.

"Oh ya! I almost forgot, there are of course some who are claimed the Heaven's Dictate to be a hoax and a government secret project," she replied with disapproval on her face,

"What! Are they crazy? Why would they do that?" Rick was flabbergasted. He had faced the Kings hours before and knew for a certainty that this was not a hoax.

"Well, I don't know that. But people who believe it to be true are doing worse things. These human scums have decided that the world is anyone coming to an end so the best use of their new-found powers in the chaos would be to settle their previous disagreements." Samira chuckled.

He looked at Samira mouth agape at what she had just said.

"Why don't you go freshen up. We can sit and have lunch later," Samira suggested, noticing Rick's shock.

"Ya. I will just freshen up!" he got up from the sofa and walked into his room.

With a slight click, Rick locked the door behind.

"I can't burden her with my troubles, at least not right now," Rick shook his head.

He pulled the chair and down, before pulling the grimoire Lemegeton on the study table. He lifted it once again weighing it in his hand and turning it around, before putting it back on the table.

"It is truly magical!" he voiced. The book was light as his mobile in spite of its voluminous size and even fit into his pocket, bending to take its shape.

"It's like we are connected," Rick continued, clutching his chest. There was a pull in his heart that the book was an extension of himself.

"Let me go through the notifications first.", Rick determined, putting the Lemegeton out of his thoughts.

With his right hand, he touched his temple, a translucent blue screen appeared before him,

[RICK HANIQUE]

Strength: 12

Stamina: 9

Perception: 2

[Skills: Tranquil Heart, Stealth Walk, Negotiator]

[Bound Equipment: Signet, Lemegeton]

There was a bunch of notifications to go through. He selected them one by one starting with the notification reading [Perception] first,

[Perception]

One of the five basic stat among humans. Allows the host to observe and analyze subjects in depth and make a clear judgment on it.

'I must have unlocked it after analysing the strength of the Kings in the dungeon today,' Rick deduced, making a mental note to check out its limits.

Next, he checked out the [Negotiator] skill he had earned.

[Skill: Negotiator (Apprentice)]

Proficiency: 2%

The host can negotiate out of tough situations by bargaining a good deal for himself.

He then moved on to check out the two artifacts, he had inherited from Sol.

[Signet (Paragon Artifact)]

A ring of unknown origin and unidentified use

[Lemegeton (Paragon Artifact)]

A grimoire of unknown origin and unidentified use

Rick was taken aback by the one line description of the artifacts given by the God's Evolution System. He suppressed his desire to open the grimoire to check what made it so extraordinary. Instead, he chose to chose to go through the rest of the notifications, diligently.

Next,

[Territory Ownership]

Grants ownership over the dungeon property. The owner of a territory can use the territory and develop it for their own use.

Territories Owned- City Central Library

[Blessed Stone]

Currency established by God for rewarding the deserved. It can be used to request God for a reward of equal value as to the number of stones

'What do they even do? Where are these things,' Rick checked his pockets and the other notifications but had no idea what, the [Territory Ownership] and the [Blessed Stones] did. Not knowing what to do, he decided to just leave them be for the time being.

He went through all the notifications one at a time. Finally, he looked at the solemnly sitting book on his desk and slowly opened the first page of the book.

"What?" to Rick's surprise, there was nothing there, it was a blank page. Rick reached out to flip onto the next page, when suddenly beautifully written letters started appearing on its own, written by an invisible hand,

To the Owner,

Please standby...