Coming back to the lakeside, Roy mulled over his query. He understood the possibility of a feat such as breaking metal with his own hands, as he clearly saw the level his Patreon reached. What he didn't understand was how long it would take to reach such heights, and if the challenge set up in front of him hid something else behind its making.
The mental strain of being alone would be enough to bring despair to the common human being, but he knew that the ability to connect to a network would work wonders for his sanity. Now all he needed to do was to figure out how to do so, as the god didn't go into great detail over that specific aspect of his blessing.
Reaching the pond, he sat down and brought up the item he would use for the purpose. The Cube was a mysterious object, giving him some knowledge about his situation, but not interacting with him in the same manner as his other two life-bound tools.
After a brief inspection, the professor found out that the concentric circles were now separated, a dot on one side of the cube, a circle on the opposite, and two semicircles separated by just a sliver of black matter between them. Touching the dot, Roy felt reality distort for a second, and he found himself in an endless white space with a short pillar in front of him. The pillar had nothing but a button on its top, and after a moment of deliberation, he touched it, finding himself back in the cavern.
Looking at the mattress, still lying on the pavement where he left it the last time he woke up, he instinctually pressed the cube on it, dot side pointing down. Instantly, the comfy bed disappeared.
"Well, one function down, two more to go."
Looking at the marvelous object, the man was quiet. He wondered what the third function would be, as the first connection gave him only the sense of two uses for it.
With a touch, a mild sense of discomfort reached Roy. A sudden thought made became clear in his mind and with a grimace, he took the pen out of his trouser. He stabbed his finger with the pointy writing instrument, and let a trickle of blood flow towards the surface of the Cube.
The black matte surface pulsed red for a split second, and the semicircles connected. Roy, blinked, surprised. Once he opened his eyes he found himself in front of a gigantic bookshelf. His mouth open, he looked at the sky, unable to see the top of the massive thing in front of him.
Rows upon rows of books, all with unintelligible symbols on their covers were stuffed in the wooden structure, their weight not bothering it in the slightest. With just a quick glance, he noticed how the symbols were split. The majority of them seemed like old Celtic runes, signaling a somewhat common language adopted by a big part of the world he would find himself into, or a cultural predominance reached by one of the races.
Other books presented themself with a mixture of what seemed Japanese kanji and Arabic alphabet, but what finally caught his eyes was a small section on his left, full of tomes with a clearly recognizable Roman alphabet.
The first clear winner was a big black book, with clear letters written on its spine.
The Grand Library 101: Aid your hero with the blessing of infinite wisdom!
Chuckling at the title, the man picked up the tome and opened it with a longing expression. He realized he hadn't had the chance to read something for quite a while, and while he was more than thrilled about the whole most powerful fighter gig going on in his near future, he would loath to give up one of his favorite hobbies.
With the rustling sound of old paper, the book revealed its contents. Thin pages laid under his eyes, each one a blank canvas. Confused the man started to turn the sheets, soon reaching the middle of the volume, bold words finally clear on the paper.
"Hello reader! If you found yourself in the Grand Library, probably you will soon embark on a journey of wondrous heights and awful lows! But fear not, for you stand on the shoulder of giants! The grand library is the condensed version of everything ever known to the races, a somewhat similar recollection as to the Akashic Records, used mainly for knowledge instead of soul-reading! It's one of the great opuses of a forgotten god of knowledge, his name washed ashore in the tides of history. Maybe, If you try hard enough, you will discover the origins of the Library.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Library functions: Translation, storage, bookkeeping, research, academic research, and simulation.
Library controls: Use a drop of your blood to bound this book! Once you are done, it will act as a database from which you can search what you need by writing your instructions on the blank pages. Once you fill in all the pages, an upgrade will occur. Keep in mind that giving the same set of instructions or wording them differently won't work towards this goal.
Library 101: The first tomes that appeared near this book upon reader entrance to the library are a set given to all beginners. It's a comprehensive guide of the world of Iliria, the place in which the Grand Library came to life, with a rundown of major languages, races, basic principles of different subjects, and an explanation of the various Paths Of Power people on Iliria have used to reach the heights they did!
Journey far Young Soul, for the library shall aid you in your voyage."
The man closed the book, some of his questions answered. His hand reached for the pen once more and stopped. He knew himself, if he started to read here he would probably lose track of time. He had to organize himself, his thought, and his actions. Shed some of his old habits, and harden to his new reality.
Each moment, his mind was wondering. He was pretty laid back during his stay at Abaddon house, he was logical and he took the chance he got for what it was: a chance. Something that he may have deserved, or maybe not. But he wouldn't waste it, and not for a moment he thought it would have been easy.
He was quite different from the average man. He started to think about a more normal reaction to his situation and understood that maybe freaking out a bit would have been the answer for most. Not his wife, he was sure, and neither his children, but the apple can't fall far from the tree.
Each answer he got was taking him further from his old reality, and while he was content with exploring the unknown, he was starting to realize just how unknown everything would be.
The library was the place where he would head to after discovering all of his advantages, he promised himself. He would not let a part of himself die, but he had more pressing matters at the moment.
With a sigh, he looked around, finding himself confined by books on every side. He took a moment to grasp the sheer volume of paper around him, before starting his search again. Sometime later, he finally found what he was searching for. In the alcove that previously held his library guide, two semicircles were portrayed, now connected by a drop of dim red light.
A touch later, and the now-familiar sight of the cavern greeted him.
The main functions of the Cube now clear to him, his curiosity piqued, he once more reached for the tool.
The circle seemed to look at him expectantly. A closer inspection revealed that the circle was in fact composed of the image of a really thin snake biting its own tail.
Finding the ouroboros symbol here was something he didn't expect, but thinking about the Celtic runes he saw previously, he decided that an overlap was still possible, even after the god told him that he had a nonintervention policy while watching over his world. Snakes were symbolic in many ways, and a similar culture to the North European one could have developed on Iliria.
Still in deep thought about particular substrata and parastrata of developing societies, Roy touched the little snake.
A sudden rush, a familiar discomfort in his head, all forgotten as the old professor's eyes went wide like saucers.
A room, big white, and endless, just like the inventory. A sofa in the middle of nothing.
And a giant, floating screen, with symbols on it. The letters were similar enough to the English alphabet to let him distinguish the logo in front of him. Even then, the familiar red, yellow, green, and blue would have been sufficient to make him realize what he was looking at.
Iliria had Google.
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On a not-so-distant plane, a figure was hanging on a hammock, a cocktail in his left hand and a cigar in his right. An azure screen was floating in front of the resting place of Abaddon, greatest of gods.
An amused chuckle left his lips.
'Fucking knew it, his expression was priceless. You think too little of me and my subjects, old man. Sword and magic are just some of the things you will experience while in my garden.
Still, to think he would choose one of the three Greats simply by his will... that little plumpy bitch doesn't understand the opportunity she had. Well, knowing her she would have just given him a big ass sword and some manual about thunder and dragons, so his potential would have been squandered. All these eons and fate is still playing tricks on all of us.'
Taking a drag from his cigar, Abaddon let his mind wander. He remembered all those ages ago. He remembered his figure in front of a revolting mass of matter and void, of darkness and flesh. He remembered the system. His choice.
His disgusted voice, when answering the dissonant voice of the mish-mash of things that brought him to this place, to be a "Hero"
"Yes, I'm sure." He said.
"I want to have no limits on my mental stats growth when increasing my knowledge"
With a swirl of his hand, as to try to wave the memory away, he focused once more on the screen in front of him.
The man was now touching the screen as if to try and type in something.
Another chuckle left the god's lips.
"Truly Marvelous"