Chapter 35: The Good, the Bad, and the Weird Sage (3)

Senior Jizel returned the book she had borrowed two days ago.

“I enjoyed reading it.”

“How was it?”

“It was interesting. It got hard to understand as the dimensions increased, but the irony that what I know isn’t the absolute truth, and that even those who have realized this still have limited perspectives, was fascinating.”

I see.

Senior Jizel really did read the book properly.

That means the experiment was a success.

Other people besides me can read books taken from the Akashic Record.

When she first pointed at those books and asked what they were, I had a hunch and ran the experiment.

Since accessing the Akashic Record can have unpredictable consequences, I need to be even more careful.

What if I accidentally bring out a Legendary Martial Arts Manual or an Ancient Magic Book that’s already lost and then lose it?

Even worse if some villain picks it up.

Ugh, just imagining the chaos is terrifying.

“Here, and also these.”

I received the basic language learning textbooks that Senior Jizel handed over.

I had visited the library several times over the past few days, but I couldn’t figure out where all the small books were, so I needed Jizel’s help.

“Thank you, I’ll put them to good use.”

“That’s an interesting plan. Writing the Knight Commander’s love letters while showing the value of a Civil Officer.”

“It’s thanks to your advice. You said I had to show usefulness. Well, I don’t know how much it’ll help though.”

Senior Jizel patted my head as if encouraging me.

“Usually, useless things end up having amazing effects. Do well.”

“Thank you, Senior. By the way, I’m sorry for asking you to help with these trivial tasks. You must have work every day at the library.”

Jizel shook her head as if it was no trouble.

“It’s fine. Looking through these kinds of books again after a long time was enjoyable. It felt like an adventure.”

“Ha ha, an adventure?”

“Yeah. The library is so big, sometimes I even see mice in certain areas.”

“Ugh, mice? Don’t they eat books?”

“That’s right. Normally, I’d have set up wards to keep them out, but I saw them anyway. I have to chase them away next time.”

Chasing mice? Wouldn’t she be the one chased away?

I thought that because Senior Jizel looked so frail and delicate.

Her skin was so pale it looked like it never saw sunlight, and her wrists and arms were so thin I could hold them in one hand.

How should I put it?

She looked like a mirage—someone who might vanish at the slightest breeze.

“You had other books, right?”

“Yes. But I haven’t read this one yet, so I’ll start reading it slowly today.”

“Wasn’t that book called ? It sounds like something related to spirits.”

“Exactly. I hope it’s about that too.”

Maybe that letter I met in the Akashic Record…

It might be from a spirit who’s already vanished.

Maybe that spirit gave me this book to communicate with me.

Thinking this, I opened the book.

Inside, an elaborately written preface was scrawled in cursive.

Though grandiose in wording, the handwriting was so poor it was barely legible.

[All the power humans possess comes from the soul. Humans exist by acquiring a soul, and perish by losing it.

The soul is a source of immense power. Swordmasters and Archmages of the 8th Circle expel all bodily waste through Change Body and transform into new bodies. However, the soul undergoes no change.

Could it be that our potential lies hidden within the soul? Do we fail to utilize even one percent of the possibilities our souls contain?

If so, to understand the potential of the soul, we must communicate with it. This book begins from there.

Archmage Albatron.]

Ugh, even just reading the introduction drains me because of that terrible handwriting.

But I get the meaning.

So the language of the soul isn’t like the language of spirits—it literally means understanding the soul itself.

Somehow, it feels like a recommendation for meditation.

Honestly, the contents sound a bit far-fetched…

But the name Albatron at the end sweeps away all doubts.

Archmage Albatron.

A legendary figure who reached the 9th Circle at the age of 57, a hundred years ago.

But future generations remember him more by a nickname than the title Archmage.

Mad Starling Albatron.

Back when the Empire was still called a Kingdom.

He invested his youth building the foundation of the Empire.

Ironically, after awakening the 9th Circle, he became a symbol of terror by opposing the Empire.

At the time, no one knew why, and many ominous rumors circulated.

That he sold his soul to a demon to awaken the 9th Circle, or went mad because his mana became entangled during the awakening.

The truth was never revealed.

[Hearing the voice of the soul is very difficult, but also simple. You must deliberately remove the body.

Consider the Necromancer’s summoning technique. They call the souls of the dead, communicate with them, and use their power.

Souls vividly remember even trivial events a living person cannot recall, as if just experienced, and can wield powerful forces through them.

Of course, removing the living body is no different from death. Therefore, the practitioner must create a concept of death, an intentional Near-Death Experience.

This is impossible for Mages below the 8th Circle.]

What is this?

Then there’s no need for me to read this book.

It’s just bragging about what the author did, isn’t it?

I grumbled as I read on.

[But don’t worry.

As a great Archmage, I prepared safeguards in this book.

The pain will be brief.

The possibilities that unfold within your soul will be infinite.]

What!?

Pain… Could it be, just a moment!

I tried to throw the book away, but the Archmage’s safeguard was too fast and powerful for someone like me to evade.

“Ugyaak?!”

It felt like electricity pierced my whole body, or like burning in a furnace.

A giant hand seemed to clutch something inside my head and yank it out—

Then… my world vanished.

In this situation, I suddenly realized.

I’m dead.

No, seriously, I’m actually dead?

All sensation disappeared.

Nothingness—the absolute sense of void—engulfed me.

It was suffocating.

Was this going to last forever?

No, it couldn’t be.

The book said it creates a temporary state of death to hear the Voice of the Soul.

Still, something was strange.

If the book’s purpose was to hear the Voice of the Soul and awaken my potential,

Why was there no change?

Then, it happened.

The emptiness and numbness I felt just moments ago began to flood away as overwhelming sensations returned.

From all directions, the scent of paper wafted sharply into my nose.

The rustling sound of old pages brushing past filled my ears.

Shelves of books soared to infinite heights, their overwhelming presence sending chills across my skin.

The Akashic Record Hall of Knowledge.

Though I had been here before, the feeling was different now.

How to put it—

My entire body was more sensitively absorbing this place.

I could even feel the texture of the air here.

Naturally, I looked up.

The most alien yet dreamlike sensation existed right there.

When I raised my head, a book was floating.

A book more refined and mysterious than any I had ever seen.

Its purple leather cover shimmered with golden embroidered characters, and the thick volume of over 500 pages radiated an eerie blue aura.

“Heh heh, finally arrived. Now, greet the great Archmage Albatron.”

What did that book just say?

Albatron?

The Mad Starling Albatron—the author of the book I was just reading?

“Ahhhh! I’ve wanted to meet you anyway. What did you just do to my body!?”

“Didn’t you read the book? I made you into a soul state.”

“How can you recklessly make a living person into a soul state! No matter that you died a hundred years ago. Do you know how painful that is!?”

“A hundred years, huh.”

As the book’s words ended, blue energy began to radiate wildly from it in all directions.

“There was no other way to send you this message across so much time.”

Sending a message across time…

“You’re not dead then.”

“Still perceptive, aren’t you?”

The book slowly opened in midair.

The blue light faded to red, stirring a massive wave of mana in the void.

Page after page flipped with a soft swish, creating a strange tension.

The scenery around me wavered.

What was just a slightly mysterious library a moment ago

Had now become a vast universe.

A great sea of countless lights.

Stars big and small embroidered the sky, and spheres larger than massive castle walls filled the space, spinning.

“This is the Akashic Record. A place where knowledge from the future, past, and other worlds converge. I am speaking to you from a hundred years ago, Transmitter.”

“Transmitter?”

“A Transmitter is someone who carries records and messages across different eras.”

“So you’re talking to me from a hundred years ago? More than that, you can also access the Akashic Record?”

“Yes, you have many questions, don’t you? That’s why I prepared you by pulling out your soul. The human body imposes many restrictions.”

“You… wait, is that my voice?”

My voice, which had sounded muffled like air leaking out, and echoed faintly in my mind, now began to sound normal.

My senses had returned.

I moved my hands and feet. The tactile sense I felt nothing of before now vividly confirmed my body.

Above all, Albatron’s form, once just a book, became clear.

The blue energy pouring from the book was probably his robe.

A piercingly bright blue robe and a pointed wizard hat like a tower roof.

Underneath, a strikingly handsome man with sharp eyes and messy blue hair.

“You are Albatron?”

“Heh heh, yes. I am Archmage Albatron.”

That seemed right.

He wore an old-fashioned outfit straight out of a fairy tale.

Albatron waved his hand in the void, and two chairs appeared before us.

At the same time, a cup appeared in his hand, and in the blink of an eye, warm steam rose from the cup, filling the air with the scent of coffee.

Moreover, in my hand, a cup of warm coffee had also appeared.

Amazing.

I had seen many who wielded magic, but never anyone who could so skillfully use mana to perform such versatile feats.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Albatron chuckled mischievously at my honest answer.

“You must have many questions, but we don’t have time to talk about everything, so just listen.”

With that, Albatron began to recount stories related to his Akashic Record.