Chapter 4: Pondering in the Library
Logging into Eden the following day, Alexander felt ready to decide. However, he couldn't immediately return to the Mages Guild as he was in the middle of his first quest.
While clearing his head, he had been exploring the city's gardens and, while traveling to one, ventured down a rather desolate alley. Here, he had bumped into an old blind man, whom he helped find his way back home. It turned out the man was a librarian, and he asked for his help in cleaning up his store. The man said he couldn't offer much reward, but in return for helping Alexander, he could read as much as he wanted.
Like so, Alatar the Wise Hermit happily stayed there working and reading for the last two weeks as the full moon grew closer and closer. During this time, he had learned a great deal about Eden through its literature, though it may have seemed mundane to many. At the same time, perhaps due to his high intelligence and wisdom stats or perhaps even his enlightenment, Alexander had found his ability to read within Eden had accelerated manifold. Like so, he devoured the book and tomes around him.
He read about the history of Camelot and the surrounding country, Britannia, as well as the neighboring countries of Windfield in the north and Fiore in the south. They were all relatively peaceful with each other, but only because it took all of them to defend against the beasts that constantly invaded from the Dark Nation to the West.
He also read Adventures' notes, which included survival tips, monster habits, traits of rare plants, and many other useful tidbits.
There were a couple of encyclopedias on plants, ore, and other materials, which he happily read as well.
However, his favorite stories were the legends of brave heroes who had fought against great evil. Being quick-witted, the young man had hoped these tales might reveal some hints as to how to gain such legendary power, but these origins were as vague as it was useless. These people of old were all either born talented or came into power from sheer luck. A few earned their prestige from the ground up, though there still didn't seem to be any cheat codes for success hiding in the pages of these texts.
Ultimately, his favorite book was about the Legendary Three Heroes, including The God's Hero, The Undefeatable Champion, and The Divine Saintess. They lived when Morgoth, the God of Evil, still inhabited the world and sought its destruction. These three mighty Heroes feared they did not have the strength to fight Morgoth and thus sought out the Worldly Sage. This person was Alexander's favorite character and had become his role model for the future.
The Worldly Sage's backstory was only briefly discussed. Still, it was said that in his younger years, he came to understand the nature of the worldly elements and was appointed a Royal Magician. Eventually, a crusade came, and he joined the Holy War as a healer. His heart grew heavy after seeing so much death, so he sought seclusion from the world by building a tower and locking himself away to study the mysteries of magic. His peace was eventually disturbed by a village in need of help, and once he had returned to the world, the man saw it had become full of darkness. He began his campaign against evil through kindness by bringing rain to the waterless, healing the sick, and restoring the peace of the world. His kindness ultimately won him enemies, and an evil king eventually banished him into the wilderness. Alone in the woods, he nearly died but managed to become Enlightened and returned to overthrow the King of Lies peacefully while displaying the dark magic he used to control his people. After this, the man returned to his tower to await the summons of fate.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Ultimately, he crafted the Three Holy Weapons of the Heroes, which the heroes used to defeat Morgoth.
Alexander loved how the Sage achieved greatness without hurting people and was exactly the character he wanted to be. The young man knew it was possible to gain the classes of Hero, Saint, and Champion, so he hoped it would be possible to become a Sage.
The Elf was happily reading over this very story when he received a notification:
image [https://imgur.com/pobfS3B.png]
The Elf smiled as his newest skill reached level three. With each advancement, he gained a 10% boost in his Comprehension. The youth didn't know how the game managed to achieve this, though even after just two leaves, the difference had been noticeable. Better yet, it increased his Intelligence stat by 5% per level.
Acquiring this skill reminds the Elf that he should try to study more in Eden Classroom. He liked having a massive Intelligence Stat, but this was mainly due to his teaching others. Unfortunately, the maximum cap for this way of gaining acquired stats was 1000 points, which he knew he would be reaching soon. This was the same for studying, though he could guess he hadn't even gained a hundredth of such points. Given his major, he had a planet of material he needed to review, so there was no need to not pressure this avenue of improvement.
At this point, Alexander put his book down, having achieved his final goal, and called, "Hey, Mister Mercer, I have to be leaving now."
A kindly old man hobbled over, moving expertly through the shelves, and commented sadly, "Must you leave so soon, my boy? This place hasn't been so clean in ages." Running a finger across a nearby shelf and feeling it lacked dust, he added, "Your work is quite splendid."
The youth sighed and answered, "I have a meeting at the Mages Guild today. After that, I'll be studying magic, and you know that takes up a lot of time."
Mister Mercer nodded, cheering up quickly, "Of course, of course, you have a future ahead of you. But don't forget to live life now before springtime passes you by." He then pulled out a book from his satchel and said, "Boy, you've been so kind to me. I'm sorry. This is all I have to offer."
Alexander smiled and accepted the book as a notification popped up:
image [https://imgur.com/seoqvVh.png]
As the Elf looked over the old tomb, the man explained, "It seems you love reading just as much as me, boy. But life's greatest stories are those you write yourself. I hope this black book affords you the space to write your own story."
The Elf was truly touched by this, hugged the old man, and responded, "Thank you. This reward is more than enough."
Old Man Mercer was surprised but then hugged back and commented happily, "I'm glad you like it."
The two exchanged a few more kind words before Alexander finally left the building, excited about what his future would bring. Before storing the blank book, he smiled to himself, feeling that this was a good omen. He was ready to start walking his own path and making his own story. If he did things right, his tale might end up in a bookstore admired by people for years to come.
He set off into the street and was quickly engulfed by the bustling crowd.
It wasn't a heroic or grand way to start one's adventure, but it was his, and the Elf couldn't be happier.