Now that he had entered the "Vanished Library," Luke no longer needed to pretend.
"Professor Felix... you are currently affected by the Book of Calamity. Trapped here for over a hundred years, don't you desire liberation? Hand me the book and free your soul."
The temperature in the library quickly dropped.
Unlike the cooling sensation in the Ice Dance Garden, this time, the coldness was first felt from within the body.
Felix's body continued to transform, not only taking on a physical form but also distorting and contorting his face.
His features were squeezed towards the center, and his entire body trembled as if enduring unbearable pain.
"No, I will never give you the Book of Calamity. It is the highest achievement of our Secret Arts Department and the origin of all disasters.
I stayed here to guard it and prevent the tragedy from recurring.
Elf! You deceived me with your goodwill, and you will pay the price!"
At this moment, Felix's face turned into a black hole. Floating in the air, he emitted a chilling negative energy, causing the books on the ground to rapidly flip their pages under the influence of the eerie wind.
Luke extended his right arm, clutching the Canggu Panyan in his hand.
A white light radiated outward from the glove on his right arm, and the majestic holy energy dispersed all the encroaching negative energy.
"Professor Felix, you just said that energy and knowledge are neutral. So why do you now claim that the Book of Calamity is the origin of disasters?
That tragedy was a human calamity, a result of some secret art practitioners succumbing to darkness and abyss. The Book of Calamity has been falsely blamed for over a hundred years, and its name was even changed later on.
Its true name should be... 'The Original Encyclopedia of Secret Arts,' recording all the secret techniques collected since the establishment of the Olu Academy's Secret Arts Department. All your future achievements and works are based on this book, which has become the most precious treasure of your Secret Arts Department.
Its greatest mistake, perhaps, was becoming an object of mystery, embodying your passion for secret arts."
The sacred light illuminated half of the room where Luke stood.
A clear boundary appeared between light and darkness before her. Professor Felix remained in the dark, as his negative energy hindered the advancement of the holy light.
"Sacred energy! An elf full of lies, how can you possess righteous power?
Moreover, your knowledge of the Book of Calamity exceeds my imagination.
You... are very, very dangerous! I have to kill you!"
Luke sighed.
"Professor Felix, you are a good person and a great scholar. I don't want to see you perish in agony. But I must take away the Book of Calamity... if I don't, it will cause an even greater disaster at the Olu Academy.
Only I know its true value in this world.
It is not just a book that brings calamity."
After speaking, Luke instantly raised Clear Sky's level from 60 to 100.
Blinding holy light burst forth from the blade of the Canggu Panyan, resembling a high-powered spotlight, shining intense white light onto Professor Felix.
The darkness in the other half of the room was dispelled by the light, and Professor Felix was exposed to the holy light, emitting a painful wail. The holy flames ignited the accumulated impure grievances in his soul, and many spiritual bodies were expelled from his body by the divine energy.
The responsibilities during his lifetime and the guardianship of over a hundred years burdened Felix and his companions with too much.
Their obsession with secret arts prevented them from leaving the Book of Calamity.
Dissipation was their liberation.
Under the impact of the sacred energy, after the negative energy was burned away, Professor Felix's soul turned from gray to pale white.
Then, it dispersed into flickering starlight, disappearing into the air.
The room became warm under the illumination.
"Elf, if you could see the future, what name would it have?"
"Brick," Luke said, revealing the name players had given the Book of Calamity.
"Brick?! That's a name I never would have expected, but it's better than the name 'Book of Calamity'... Please treat it well."
Felix, who guarded this library, vanished completely, leaving behind a thick hardcover book lying where he had stood, as big as a dictionary.
Luke dismissed the holy energy, adjusted Clear Sky's level back to 60, and then walked over to pick up the hardcover book scattered on the ground.
The cover of the book bore the title "The Original Encyclopedia of Secret Arts."
This was the Book of Calamity.
If the player didn't take the Book of Calamity in advance, another Olu mage interested in secret arts would meet Felix through this means. He would gain Felix's trust and learn a lot of knowledge related to secret arts.
And then, like many other secret art practitioners, he would become obsessed with it.
He would dissipate Felix's soul, take the Book of Calamity, and repeat the words of the secret arts.
Uncontrolled secret arts would once again cause a disaster at the Olu Academy.
Now, it was the "brick" in Luke's hands.
Brick, brick, wherever it's needed, there it shall go.
"Brick" not only resembled the appearance of the Book of Calamity, but vividly described its function.
The Olu mages' misconception regarding the Book of Calamity was that they designed the entire ritual surrounding it, making it the subject of the secret arts language.
Furthermore, the tremendous power displayed by the Book of Calamity during secret arts experiments trapped the Olu mages in this misconception, always thinking of developing a magnificent secret art centered around the Book of Calamity.
The result was an uncontrollable situation.
Yet, the true purpose of the Book of Calamity was to serve as an adjunct to other mysterious objects serving as the subject.
If the Olu mages had discovered this characteristic of the Book of Calamity earlier, they would have realized it was a versatile "artifact."
It could be incorporated into any sequence of the secret arts as an adjunct, without affecting the overall effect of the secret arts language.
In advanced secret arts, it could replace an extraordinary mysterious object that one couldn't find.
In the development of secret arts, by changing the position of the Book of Calamity in the adjunct sequence, it could greatly reduce the experimental procedures required for secret arts development.
Moreover, after releasing the secret arts language, the Book of Calamity wouldn't disappear or become ineffective like other mysterious objects.
It was an indispensable mysterious object for player mages.
It was the first compiled and written encyclopedia of secret arts in the Epoch World, embodying the passion of all secret art practitioners in the Olu Academy.
It had been waiting for its true value to be discovered but was regarded as the source of disaster and given the name "Book of Calamity."
Go to where you belong.
Luke opened Clear Sky's spatial backpack and threw the Book of Calamity inside.
Then he picked up the scattered books from the ground and placed them back on the shelves, rearranging them.
Finally, he selected a few secret art books from among them and packed them into the spatial backpack.
With the task
completed, it was time to leave.
Luke summoned the Book of Calamity, using the mysterious energy within the book to open a portal.