(Written while listening to: "Wrath of the Righteous Main Theme" by Dmitry V. Silantyev on YouTube)
<<<>>>
'Well…- it's an amazing Robe but…- I look like an altar boy in it. I guess when I have chainmail draped over it it doesn't look that bad overall. I couldn't give a damn about looks anyways. Its enchantments are unreasonably OP, so the dress it is!'
With robe on, Laito checked his runes again and indeed, mind protection seemed to work well, as in some instances he could briefly notice [Enthrallment] attribute phasing in and out from his "field of noticing".
The reincarnator boy smiled and nodded at the Wizard.
"It's working!" He confirmed.
And the Wizard nodded back. "Good. This opens new strategic possibilities for handling what's to come. But! Let's not digress too much as we still have my final…- and the most precious gift that I has to offer.
"Uuuu. Sounds nice. You've got my full attention Sir."
Gandeon took a deep breath. Exhaled. He approached his desk, standing at the opposite side of it from Laito. The Book he used earlier was still laying there open. Font of Wisdom stared at it for a few seconds with sadness in his eyes. Then, he slowly closed it and slid it carefully over the desk towards Laito.
"Here it is…- please understand that under normal circumstances I wouldn't even consider parting with it…- but as things currently stand…- if I won't give it away to you…- it will be lost forever…- and that's something I am most unwilling to allow to happen.
Laito got closer to the desk as well and took a closer look at The Book.(AN: pic in the comment)
'It looks…- magical for sure. It's glowing with blue light and that symbol on the cover…- I actually kinda recognize it. I think it's called ankh? Egyptian symbol of…- ehhh I don't remember. Now I wonder if…'
"Can I touch it?" Laito asked.
"Sure. It's yours now." The Wizard conformed somehow hesitantly.
Laito slowly put his hand over The Book cover aaaaaaand…
Yup.
I know.
You guessed it…-
—
Ehh…
…-It dissolved into a whirlwind of silver sparks.
—
—
[You have received a ???]
'Huh?' Laito thought to himself surprised.
'The hell did I received?'
He summoned runes, but neither in "Memories", "Attributes", nor in "Echoes" sections were any noticeable changes.
No.
Instead at the very TOP of the runic strings displayed by Nightmare Spell, even above his name, appeared there something that looked like a new section…- but it was severely incomplete. It read:
???
???: [???]
??? description: [???]
Name: Soot
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirat
And so on.
'Wow…- Spell…- You are so "useful" it's unbelievable!'
'I have learned so much from this nonsense!'
'But for real: if you are just going to put question marks everywhere, then why even bother in the first place? C'mon! Let's be serous!'
Laito complained internally and tried to summon The Book from his Soulsea just like he usually summons his Memories, or Echoes…- And it worked!
But instead of appearing in the swirl of a Soul Essence it just…- phased into existence in his hands. He also noticed that summoning it did not cost him even a speck of Essence.
Laito decided to ignore these details.
He opened The Book at the random page, only to see a wall of runes that Spell refused to translate.
'Obviously it's written in the language of gods. Huh. I don't get even a single symbol…- But now that I stare at it…- I think I'm kinda starting to get it? This rune feels familiar…- Funnily enough, I suspect it means…- "rejection"?'
"What is this Book?" Laito took his focused eyes from the pages and asked its previous owner directly.
Gandeon made a wistful smile.
"Take a look at the first page please." He just advised.
"Okay" Laito did as he was told.
There is a line of runes, its meaning somehow instantly popped into his head, he realized that it is the title of The Book.
" "Liduen abr Vurd"?"
—
"What does that mean?" He asked.
"It is really embarrassing to admit, but after holding onto this Book for several centuries already, I have managed to decipher only a few selected Words from it. Each of them have proven a priceless treasure in my endeavours…- But what you said? "Liduen abr Vurd"? I didn't even know that's how you read these runes, let alone their meaning." The Wizard admitted.
"You seem to have tremendous talent in the Sorcery of Names, considering you already have that level of ease in comprehending these. Whenever you have free time I strongly recommend you to study this Book carefully." Font of Wisdom advised, while reaching to his pocket.
"And for that, I believe these may prove to be useful to you. These are my personal notes on what I have discovered up to this point."
Laito blinked, staring at a large, rugged tome five times the size of "Liduen abr Vurd", that Wizard took out from his "pocket".
"O-okay? Thanks." He dismissed "Liduen abr Vurd", reached out for the "notes" and grabbed them firmly.
–
–
–
Nothing happened.
'Holy shit. Spell? You don't like these, or what? Have you finally decided to behave normally? I am kinda shocked at this point to be fair.'
"These are not enchanted. Just some mundane notes about completely non-mundane things." Gandeon tried to offer an explanation he deduced from what he observed, to the dismayed boy.
Laito slowly shook his head.
'That's NOT how it works. Actually. I have no idea how it works, or how it's supposed to work at this point and right now…- I don't wanna know! My head already hurts from all this bullshit.'
"Once again: thank you. All these are amazing items and now that I was Knighted I guess…-"
"I am fully at your orders." He looked firmly into Gandeon's twinkling eyes.
"Lord Commander."
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[4 years left until MHA plot beginning]
[Chapter End] The story is not over yet