Elias's consciousness slowly sank back into his physical body, his eyes fluttering open as if being stirred awake from a soft ethereal dream.
His head was assaulted by a subtle aching pain, the energy in his body waning, causing him to once again experience slight drowsiness as he slowly massaged his temples.
Lars slowly materialized in front of him, probing him meticulously with a gaze that communicated both interest and hesitation.
"You don't seem to be in a bad condition. Is it safe to assume that everything went well then?"
Lars' voice seemed to stir Elias's focus, prompting him to turn his head towards his brother's illusory wraith-like form with a bitter smile.
"At this point I don't even know if I can answer that..." Not giving Lars any time for concern, Elias suddenly straightened up in his seat, his expression calm and composed, "I found out quite a lot this time... where do I start?"
Lars, who wasn't given a chance to question his brother's initial statement, eyed him down with obvious suspicion, before dismissing it as they had more important things to discuss, "Well, from the beginning of course..."
Elias spent a lot of time updating Lars on all of the details he had been able to extract from within his wisp, touching on all of the sensitive statements and information that hid a series of bizarre and mysterious secrets.
He made sure to reveal everything he came across to his brother, concealing no detail and confiding in him to the fullest.
Lars' facial expressions underwent drastic changes throughout the entire midnight briefing, particularly during the parts related to the quotes and phrases that seemed to represent tales of vastly hidden parts of history, as well as the presence of an unknown divine being outside of the standard orthodox five deities.
He took a moment to collect himself, before speaking with a voice akin to a murmur. "I did start to suspect the presence of an unknown ancient god due to the details surrounding your peculiar assessment process, but having my suspicions confirmed is an entirely different story.
"Just what kind of presence, or rather ‘being', does a god have to be to get referred to as the representation of all that is abnormal?"
Lars's face slowly turned grave. The more he thought about it, the more scarier it became.
Most of the current orthodox gods all had positive titles and pseudonyms accompanying them. If one studied most of the religious scriptures and holy materials, the most eccentric title belonging to one of the currently known deities was the 'Eternal Flame of War', a pseudonym that used to be the official public title of the being overseeing the Pyre Church and flame religion.
This representation had been highly critiqued by the enraged followers of other religious faiths following the start of the territorial conflict of Mahlon, as most of the aggrieved and war-ridden victims felt that it portrayed the deity as a supporter of war and chaos.
This was clearly a deflection of their anger and grievances from the war, as most of the victims didn't know who, or what to blame for the seemingly senseless conflict. This caused them to turn their frustrations onto the church, with the eccentric title giving them a valid reason to do so.
This eventually caused the clergy members of the Pyre Church to host a religious seminar, agreeing to change the public title of the deity from 'Eternal Flame of War', to 'The Besieging Torch', as both essentially meant the same thing while having entirely different undertones.
This would make sure that prayers and worship wouldn't be displaced, ensuring no conflict would exist within the scriptural presence of the lord of Flame.
Usage of 'His' original title was then limited strictly to clergy members within the church's ranks only, stripping it entirely from public religious material to appease the aggrieved rioters.
But at this very moment, Lars thought the title sounded very calm and docile, especially when compared to one such as 'The one that represents all that is abnormal.'
Elias shared his brother's sentiments, his gaze subtle and calm when contrasted with the moonlit sky. "I know right?... But when you think about it, it does make sense. Every single thing that has happened to me since arriving on this island can only be categorized as abnormal so far. It makes sense for me to be connected to such a being."
He stood up from his chair, walking towards his open suite window as his eyes captured the image of a lone radiant silver moon.
"Honestly, I wouldn't even say it's only been since then. A person manifesting the contradicting traits of both life and death at once was already abnormal enough when looked at from a logical standpoint. Perhaps I was always destined to walk on this unconventional path, maybe even since birth."
Lars calmly floated to Elias's side, turning towards him with a complex look on his face. "Is that why you seem to have already accepted all of the bizarre occurrences happening recently?"
Elias kept his gaze on the night sky, lingering on his brother's question before issuing him a questioning glance. "If I don't accept it, would it help to change my situation?"
Lars maintained his unreadable gaze, slowly nodding his head to Elias while floating listlessly.
Elias seemed to have expected this response, shrugging his shoulders indifferently while turning his gaze back to the beautiful starry sky, "Reality won't change because of the wants of a single desperate man, Lars. If it were that easy, evil and sin wouldn't exist, the flames of war would not rage on and everyone would have their bellies full.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"If even the gods aren't fit to change reality as they please, then more say I, a weak and feeble man? Since I cannot change reality, I think it's better to just accept it, doing so while working to improve my situation. No matter how small said improvement may be."
Lars glanced at Elias, the complex waves in his heart intensifying even more. His brother might have tried to hide it but Lars subtly noticed a stir hidden within his brother's calm and clear eyes, a stir that originated from the innate fear of the unknown and the creeping darkness threatening to ensnare him in its claws.
No matter how strong he tried to act, he was still just a man after all—a man who had a heart, fears and people to protect, and the presence of the looming shadows of the unknown threatened to overshadow everything.
Lars sighed, before placing his illusory hand on his brother's shoulder in reassurance. "Don't worry. No matter how dark and dangerous the road ahead is, I promise to always be there, walking side by side with you.
"Every single step of the way. That I promise you."
Elias smiled softly, his emotions stabilizing due to the comforting presence of his brother. To Elias, Lars was the most important person in his life, sharing in both his happiness, as well as his pain.
Elias stretched lazily, before turning towards Lars with a contemplating look. "What do you think about the other details exposed to us by the seal? Like the Trial and Tribulation of Faith, as well as what it means by Trial qualifications and true forms of the world. Also..."
Elias's face suddenly looked expectant, with a subtle hint of longing. "The Innate Blessings and Runic Invocations seem so interesting and intriguing. I'm guessing that the 'miracles' carried out by the divine followers in the holy scriptures actually refer to these two distinct groups. I'm tempted to experiment on both of them right this moment."
Lars looked at the sparkle present in his brother's eyes, likening him to a child who had just been presented with a new toy and couldn't wait to use it.
He scoffed, shaking his head helplessly. "I do think it's best not to make any rash decisions before we properly understand what all of these terms mean. Those three new abilities of yours seem to be quite complex. Until we have a preliminary understanding of what they mean, as well as the underlining principles surrounding these 'miracles', let's put a pause on recklessly activating either of them."
Lars yawned tiredly, before weakly dissolving into his brother's mind, his voice now a distant echo. "As for the rest of them, I'm sure we will have our answers tomorrow. We have an entire ancient archive to explore after all."
With that Lars went silent, fatigued by the events that had taken place within this long and quiet night. He needed his rest since he had been worried sick while looking after Elias throughout the day.
The mental strain on him was no joke at all.
Elias lingered at the open window, his gaze still placed on the shimmering dark sky.
He then chuckled self-depreciatively, his eyes laced with anticipation, "Yes, I hope these questions can truly be answered tomorrow."
He turned towards his room with firm resolve, taking in the moonlight illumination,
"It's really been a long night..."
...
8:30 in the morning,
Elias was currently receiving an employee orientational tour of the archives by another female student, her tired and lazy voice reading from a list that apparently contained the do's and don'ts for new employees, prepared by Professor Doherty.
The female student sounded disinterested and unbothered, as if the entire thing was an unnecessary chore she'd rather not take part in.
"So like I've said before, when doing shelf arrangement and book organization, do not leaf through any of the books beyond the first row of shelves. These are the only books that we students are allowed to read. As to why, I do not know. I only suspect that they hold some higher-level knowledge accessible only to the higher-ups.
"I do remember the professor explaining the exact reason some time ago, but we are in a pickle since I don't seem to remember it. In any case, just make sure to do what I said, and it wouldn't really matter."
She then adjusted the glasses on her face, glancing at Elias with an air of aloofness. "If you do intend to ignore my warnings then be my guest. That is if you maybe don't treasure your life. I've heard that one of the past seniors who worked here got turned into nothing more than a raving lunatic after just glancing at a partially opened page from the inner row some years ago. We wouldn't want you to be the next victim right?"
Elias's eyes twitched his expression one of bewilderment at how his senior could make mention of such a haunting topic so lazily and naturally.
He quickly reigned himself in, taking in a slow breath while nodding to show his understanding.
The young lady nodded slightly, before walking over to a secluded space in between a row of distant shelves, all the while humming a lazy tune.
She then paused before making a turn, turning back to Elias as if having remembered something. "That reminds me... When in close contact with books that may pose you harm, you will occasionally hear distant murmurs or sounds akin to people speaking in hushed voices.
"This is the knowledge contained within trying to bewitch you into peering at it, the instinctive desire of truth and knowledge to be witnessed and recognized and not enclosed. When that happens, I implore you to ignore it and don't fall for it. If it gets too intense, walk away from the region of that particular shelf. We hardly get new employees here in the archives, so I wouldn't want to one day retrieve a madman during the end of one of my shifts."
With that she swiftly turned around the corner, disappearing out of sight with the only evidence of her lingering presence being the distant sounds of turning pages.
Elias stood rooted to a spot, his gaze unreadable as he tried to digest what he had just heard. No one had told him that the books would literally talk to him and try to bewitch him before he accepted the job offer, this was employment fraud!
He suddenly felt like the vast archive was a dark and dangerous place, imagining a scene of illusionary hands reaching out from within ordinary-looking books to yank him in.
The entire mental image seemed too spine-chilling.
Elias then chuckled silently, before dismissing his worries and diving into work—or rather investigation, whichever works. As long as he didn't listen to the murmurs anyway, he would be okay.
He picked up a book and began to leaf through it, settling on a small employee's desk nestled close to a corner in silence.
And with that, an entire day went by.
Elias didn't even notice how late it had gotten due to the artificial lighting present within the archive halls.
The lightning hadn't changed since he had arrived in the morning, making it quite obvious that it used some hidden mystical mechanism for a constant light source.
That and the absence of a nearby clock, it was perfectly normal for Elias to not notice the fast elapse of time.
The lazy and aloof young lady, who had previously introduced herself to Elias as Sophia, walked weakly to the hidden door of the archive, attempting to leave for the day before noticing Elias silently sat in a corner, concentrating on an old covered book.
She was about to remind him not to stay too long in the archives, as it was getting late and he needed to rest and prepare for a new day.
She then hesitated, apparently concluding that it wasn't her business before turning around and exiting through the hidden route in silence.
And then—within the vast expanse of mountainous shelves and archaic tomes—there was but one silent figure left all alone in this white world of knowledge, leafing through the pages of a brass-colored book with a contemplative expression, murmuring to himself like he was the loneliest man in the world.