Gary dragged out a ridiculously large book from his storage bag, holding it over his head in a theatrical fashion. The weight of the book weighed heavily on his arms, but the smile on his face remained unaffected.
Despite the fanfare, his team was not impressed.
No, that was not true.
The sheer size of this book was something to be admired. its thickness rivaled even the most detailed history books or long-winded religious documents. Its old, worn-down cover could barely keep all of the pages contained within. That much they could respect.
The rest of it was nothing special. The cover itself lacked even the most basic form of art or title, and the pages did not appear to be of good quality.
"Is this some sort of sick prank?" Shasa asked, her staff pointing directly at him.
Sensing the approaching danger, Gary quickly interjected, "Don't be fooled by appearances. This may look like some shitty old book, but it's an even better find than Merlin's staff."
Remembering the staff, she couldn't help but grit her teeth and prepare another fireball at the lying bastard.
"Wait!" Gary stuck his hands towards the sky in a practiced manner as he tried to defuse the angered sorceress. "I'm sure that isn't what you want to hear, but it's true! Just look at what is inside."
Shasa rushed forward, shoving him out of the way.
"This better be good." She muttered, flipping through the yellowed pages.
Gary couldn't care less about her attitude though.
'Once you see it, even you will forget about the staff.'
It didn't take long for his conjecture to be proven right, as her frown was soon replaced by complete shock. Her mentality was blown away by each new page, to the point she couldn't accept what her useless team leader had found.
After leafing through it, her eyes landed on Gary, who returned her gaze with a smile.
"Is this real?"
"All of it."
"What the hell is it already?!" Brandus interrupted. He and the rest had grown tired of waiting, and Shasa's reaction only increased their desire to find out.
"It's the Devil's Compendium. Well, technically it's an omnibus, but compendium sounds better," Gary stated, his playful tone growing more serious. "It was instrumental in the Demon King's rise to power."
"Is it a book of dark magic?"
"No," Gary shook his head. "It's a book of knowledge. Over EVERYTHING. Potions, spells, martial arts, candle making, It has it all. Every bit of knowledge is either invaluable or could make us as rich as those snobby royals. This is the book the Demon King used to create his empire and made his army so difficult to beat. This is why the Goddess herself had to come down and create a band of heroes to defeat him!"
His voice rose with each sentence as he caressed the book like a long-lost lover. Throughout his life, Gary had never truly experienced love, but he could almost imagine what it felt like as he passionately gazed at the book.
Brandus, Alfred, Edwin, and Gabriel both rushed to see if what he said was true. All six of the team members huddled around the book like it was a fire during the cold night as they read through it. For an hour, they read through it, with the only sound being the occasional exclamation or muffled laughter, though the latter mainly came from Gary.
After their reading session, Every member had a bewitched expression on their face.
"You weren't joking man, this is huge." Edwin couldn't help but look at their team leader with a sense of appreciation.
The rest nodded along, with even Brandus agreeing.
"This may not excuse all of your stunts, but damn does it come close."
"I don't care if we have even a one percent chance of making it out of here alive. If we live, we are gonna be so rich we could have the king himself wiping our asses."
"Not just rich!" Alfred said with a smile hidden behind his thick red beard. "Look at these martial manuals! These aren't anything to scoff at either. Becoming the strongest adventurer team is almost assured so long as we follow the training manuals." He was extra pleased as he had come across one that suited his role as a druid tank. His robust frame was shaking from pure giddiness.
"Gary, how the hell did you even find this?"
"I may or may not have stumbled across some historical documents that are demonic in origin." He dismissively gave a shrug, although the sly smile never left his face
"It was mentioned in the book, and I started doing some digging. Lots of digging. I knew that if it was real - and if I managed to find it - I would never have to work another day in my life."
"Shit, no wonder you were so hellbent on making the trip here."
"Hehe, I take it back. I'm happy I didn't come clean and tell you." Gary laughed, pleased that his plan had worked out in the end. He couldn't help but rub his fingers together as he imagined the vast amount of wealth that awaited him.
Unfortunately for him, he had reminded them of one little hole in his story.
"Wait a second, why didn't you tell us about the book?"