Isaac stared at the array of black books with numbers on them with confusion. It was a confusing sight to behold, to say the least. The books were as dark as night with golden numbers imprinted on their surface, and the books seemed to glow a multitude of lights. It was like looking at the northern lights back in Isaac's old world, but the glowing was in some type of order. It would glow from the book with 01 imprinted on it, all the way to the book with 100 imprinted on its cover.
"If you are smart Isaac, you will have realized there is a clear difference between the library and the other buildings, and it is not just the architecture. These black books are a symbol of the capability of mages throughout the world". Artel says in a calm and clear tone, looking at Isaac's face the entire time.
"Capabilities of mages? Are mages able to not read or something? Why would a book be able to test the capability of the mages"? Isaac thinks in confusion, tracing the glow from the black books to the next black books in sequence.
"I'll leave it as a surprise for you Isaac, just know that, unless you are able to follow what's in the book to a T, you will not be trained to become a mage by me, as it will be too dangerous for both your body and mind. So do well to read it carefully". Artel says before grabbing the black book with the 01 imprinted on the surface of the book
Suddenly the book begins to morph into a book with the image of multiple 3-D shapes in a circle pattern. Isaac almost drops the book in surprise because he could not believe that the book had taken on such a dramatic transformation. Isaac looks up to Artel for an answer.
"The book is able to disguise itself when a user touches it. It is not something that has been understood, we just know that for a fact, it won't have the same disguise whenever anyone holds it in their hands. For instance". Artel goes and grabs the book, and the cover becomes an image of a dagger with an electrical current going across it.
"The book is said to look deep into your soul, and depict your magic, even if it is not totally formed". Artel hands the book back into Isaac's hands and the 3-D geometric shapes return back to Isaac.
"Don't be mistaken, while no image is the same as anybody else's, the picture usually and changes to evolve over time. My image used to be just a cloud and a lightning bolt coming from said cloud. It has changed over time due to my magical prowess increasing. It will also change for you, once you gain more and more power. Now go ahead and leave with your mother, tell her I'm letting you borrow this book so she won't have to pay". Artel says while leaving the section where the black books are to tend to other library duties Isaac assumed.
Isaac began to walk back to the entrance of the library where Isabella was still sitting at a table casually reading. When she heard the footsteps approaching the table, she looked up from the book she was reading, and then noticed Isaac walking towards her with a book about half his size.
"Did you pick a book already"? Isabella asks amazed at the fact that Isaac had found a book he wanted that quickly. When she was here with her mother when she was young, her mother almost had to choose a book for her because Isabella was taking too long choosing a book. Isabella remembers vividly the scolding she had received when she finally chose a book.
Isabella's bakery had been doing well these years, in comparison to others due to the many travelers coming in and out of the town, so she was prepared to make the same expense her mother had made, but it seems like it wouldn't be necessary anymore.
"Yes, mom". Isaac says with a big smile on his face, ushering for Isabella to rush them both back home so that he could truly delve into the book in his hands.
The excitement surprised Isabella for no kid would ever want to read if they didn't have to, Isaac was an enigma to her, but she would never realize that the 2-year-old she had birthed, actually had the mind of a young adult and who had already experienced hardships of the world.
Isabella and Isaac left the library and went on the cobbled path, heading towards the bakery to conclude the rest of the day, as it was becoming late once again, and according to some gossip, the mayor of Whitebridge had imposed a huge curfew, not allowing for the streets to be roamed at night. It was also said that the mayor had made it so more guards would patrol in the village.
This was great news for those living inside the village, but for those on the outskirts, hell, if a beast were to come busting into their homes, nobody would live even if the guards made their way to the home at their fastest speed. The magical beasts were just that ferocious, with strength that rivals most heavy lifters back in Isaac's world, there was nothing short of magic that could stop the magical creatures.
Isaac was a caring person by nature, but he was in a new world, with new rules to abide by, to live, he couldn't worry about every person, for he wouldn't be able to save everyone. Thinking of this, Isaac remembers how Kanade saved him and Isabella that night from the lycan.
"Right...there won't always be someone to save someone when they are in trouble". Isaac thinks shortly before walking through the bakery to his room. He was moving so fast, he almost tripped on his stubby legs.
"Damn this body of mines, babies have the worst motor skills I have ever seen". Isaac thinks while approaching his room and pushing the door open with his body weight since he could not even reach the handle yet.
Laying the book onto the floor, and laying his humungous baby behind onto the floor, he opened up the book to its first page. When he opened the book to the first page, a pair of white eyes imprinted themselves into his mind, the mental image was scary enough to frighten Isaac into closing the book immediately.
"What the hell was that"!? Isaac calms down his rapid breathing and heart which felt like it was pounding out of his chest. Slowly going back over to the now-closed book on the floor, he stares at the book with the golden 01 imprinted on it in thought.
He reopens the book despite his instincts wanting to rush him a thousand miles away from the book. When Isaac turns back to the first page, the white eyes appear, but due to Isaac being slightly prepared, he views the eyes with greater clarity, the eyes are narrowed as if the eyes were inherently ready to do evil.
Isaac wasn't able to view the eyes more, because when he stared for long enough, his eyes became pure white, same as the eyes he saw, and his body drops to the floor, and lays there, eyes still open but no pupil, as if he had died...
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Mental Sphere of Isaac's Mind
Isaac opened his eyes, and he was in a box of some sort, the entire space was colored black, so it felt like being imprisoned with not even a speck of light to be seen in sight. The darkness was chilling Isaac's very soul, he got up quickly and slammed his hands on the dark walls, testing to see if anything would happen, but just like any wall, nothing occurred.
Isaac believing there to be nothing to do so far, turned around to be met with a heart-chilling sight. He stared into his eyes...more correctly, he stared into something that looked very similar to him. The difference being that, the being in front of him was made entirely of white, as if the color was drained out of it, the eyes of the person or thing in front of him were alarmingly large and unblinking, and its mouth was curved into a perfect crescent moon of a grin. Without a doubt, the being in front of Isaac wasn't a human. It stared at Isaac, as Isaac began to back up away from it in fear, it approaching him, always keeping about 2 feet of distance from Isaac.
It suddenly pointed at Isaac and began to laugh, but there was no laughter that actually came out of it. It then pointed to itself and started to perform pushups on the floor. Isaac only looked at it performing the pushups confusingly, before it paused doing pushups and only shakes its head disappointed, and its smile changing into an evil smirk, while wagging its finger. It suddenly snapped, and chains appeared from behind Isaac, binding him, and suspending him in the air.
Isaac immediately tried to struggle against the bindings, but they were too tight and strong. Isaac watched the white being walk closer to him with that jackal-like smile, confused about this entire situation, but that confusion soon turned into pain and anguish as the white being smashed its fist into Isaac's body.
Isaac gasping for breath before another punch comes straight into Isaac's stomach. The smirk on the white being's face not even changing slightly, as it threw fist after fist into Isaac's stomach. Soon, blood started to be spat from Isaac's mouth, his gums bloody, and the blood leaking from his teeth, Isaac looked up at the white being who had stopped, staring at Isaac as if it could pierce its eyes into his soul.
"WHY"!? Isaac yelled at the white being who only looked at him with a grin on its face as it kept causing him pain. It stopped and looked up at Isaac, refraiming from its beating, before snapping his fingers, and the chains that binded Isaac, were removed, and Isaac fell to the ground.
The white being walked to Isaac, while he was weakly trying to get up off the ground, grabbing Isaac by his hair, staring straight into his eyes.
"Weakling". It whispers into Isaac's ears before slamming his head into the ground.
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Isaac lept up from the floor in a startled manner. Looking around hurridely, Isaac sees he is back in his room, his somewhat creacky wooden floored room that made noises whenever he walked around inside of it, but it was still a safe heaven in comparison to where he had went.
Thinking back to the experience he just had, he takes off his shirt, and stares at his stomach, expecting to see bruises, from the gut punches the white being look-alike had dealt him when he was restrained by the chains.
"Theres's no wounds"? Isaac says confusingly, trying to analyze what had just happned to him.
"I opened up the book, saw a pair of white irises, and then I was in that dark room with that thing that looked like me. It seemed disappointed in me after doing the pushups. What does this all mean"?
Isaac stared at the black book on the floor in curiosity, against his more rational thinking, he opened up the book to its first page, expecting to once again see the white irises that flashed into his mind, but there was no such thing that occurred.
"Why won't the eyes appear? Isaac thought.
Isacc kept trying to open and close the book, even tried looking at different pages, but as he saw the words, the pages started to become blank.
"Strange. How long was I even in that black box for"?
Isaac noticed that the sun seemed to have vanished from the sky, when originally, the sun was still beaming down its orange rays of afternoon light. Isaac knew he couldn't have been in the black box for no more than 20 minutes of time, yet it seemed like time in the real world had advanced much more than that.
"There is nothing I can do about it, so I will just get some rest". Isaac wasn't physically injured since he had come back to the real world, but his head was slightly hurting, as if the pain from the torture escaped the bounds of his mind and attached to it a slight reminder that what he went through was more than just an illusion.