After that strange exchange with Atticus, Mikhail began walking back to his tent with the textbook in tow.
According to the man with golden tattoos, it was the standard textbook that people his age would read. Which is to say, it was a textbook meant for teenagers.
It wasn't going to have extremely in-depth information, but even a cursory glance at these topics would do wonders for Mikhail, since he still had next to no knowledge of the world around him.
'This thing is too hefty to read while laying down on my side, I'll need to use something as a table…' he thought as he entered the tent.
His eyes quickly snapped to the crate Yagnar had given him.
Without a word, nor even a thought, he quickly went over to it and gently placed the textbook down, before turning back to tie up his tent's entrance.
And, he wasted no time in situating himself for the long reading session that he was about to embark on.
With his sleeping mat making things ever so slightly comfier, and the crate acting as a fitting table — just big enough to accommodate the large textbook while it was open — Mikhail began reading through the table of contents.
[Section One: World of The Ancients]
[Pages One to Thirty-five]
[Section Two: The Six Ancestors]
[Pages Thirty-six to One Hundred]
[Section Three: The Tower]
[Pages One Hundred One to One Hundred Fifty-Nine]
Mikhail began skimming through the table of contents, because while interested in those topics, there was a much more pressing matter on his mind. Something that he had been desperately needing to know ever since that incident with Murzol about a year ago.
After a short while of skimming, he found what he was looking for.
[Section Sixteen: Michael the Scourge]
[Pages Four Hundred Twenty to Five Hundred]
"Jeez…"
'The person I grew up to be got an entire textbook section dedicated to him… Too bad, though. Looks like I became a cunt.'
He began flipping the pages to get to that part of the textbook, and while he did so, he had a certain thought in passing.
'I wonder… How did that happen? I can't imagine ever becoming an asshole, let alone someone known to be evil…'
He eventually reached page four hundred twenty, snorting as it registered what page he was on.
'Ah, yes… One of the funny numbers.'
But he quickly put that stray thought aside, and paid attention to something much more interesting. A portrait of Michael in the top left of the page, apparently drawn by someone who had met him face to face in the past.
Someone named Vieja.
Next to the portrait was a quote from the same individual.
["Said to have been born from a red mist in the year 12,002, Michael was an individual destined for infamy." ~Vieja Calliste, circa 12,879]
Mikhail's eyes widened slightly upon seeing the difference in years.
'More than eight hundred years have passed between Michael's appearance and this quote… I wonder what year it is currently? Can't have been too long, right?'
His attention shifted, going to the start of the series of large paragraphs populating the page.
[Due to the strange circumstances of his birth within a now defunct Demon Clan settlement, a lofty figure within their ranks took notice of him. An individual known as Elder Sarah.]
[It is said that with her help, Michael finished refining his body up until the Refined Skin Stage of the Initial Metamorphosis Realm before he had even become a year old.]
'...Hm? I thought that the Refined Skin Stage was a part of the Mortal Realm?'
He furrowed his brows but continued reading, logging that question into the back of his mind so that he could ask someone about it later.
[Although the methods to achieve such miraculous results are unknown, it is without question that such a process would have severe drawbacks. Grand Elder Maya, for instance, once postulated that this method was likely one of the founding pillars behind Michael's madness.]
[Not much of his foundational years are known, but it is known that he achieved his breakthrough to the Martial {Genesis} Realm when he was five years old. It was-]
Mikhail scratched his chin as he stopped reading. The word he didn't recognize was in bold. He knew however, just from the fact that it was related to the Martial Realm, that it would be a worthwhile endeavor to find out what it meant.
Recalling his brief skim through the table of contents, he pinned his place in the textbook using his finger and then flipped several hundreds of pages onto it until he reached the back of the textbook.
It was there that he found the glossary. And after quickly skimming through it, he found the bold word again.
[Martial {Genesis} Realm]
[The first stage of the Martial Minor Realm.]
'Ah, I see now… Interesting. Too bad my frame of reference is wonky, otherwise I just might understand just how significant Michael's progression was. I'll probably understand sooner or later though. Hopefully sooner.'
With that thought run through, he used his finger to flip over the huge stack of pages back over. And then, he resumed reading.
[-breakthrough to the Martial Genesis Realm when he was five years old. It was around then that he became acquainted with the dainty young lady who would grow up to become the fierce Chief, Cazadora Calliste.]
'Calliste… There's that surname again. I wonder what their relation to each other is. And I also wonder who the fuck they even are? Maybe they show up later in the textbook…'
[Their rivalry started back then in the demon clan, but things would grow sour between them as the years passed. Chief Cazadora had even recounted a particularly bad time, wherein, as she says, "I dealt with some real bullshit back then. Forced into cleaning latrines while they were being used among other vile things." ~Cazadora Calliste, circa 12,879]
[The two would eventually attempt to escape the Demon Clan, around the time they both entered the Martial Adroit Stage of the Martial Realm. However, their relationship would go from bad to worse when Cazadora succeeded and Michael did not.]