[Great Sage's Diary]
[Greetings, if you are reading this, then I am dead and most likely have become something worse. Let me introduce myself. I am Gram Thine, the first person to invent magic after the Great Calamity.]
Gram Thine, the survivor of the First Calamity and the one who manages to control mana for the first time.
After discovering this, he taught other survivors how to control it and with it, humans can enhance their body with mana or attack with it.
[If you found this book after killing a lich, I thank you for putting my body and soul to rest. The decay has started to eat my body bit by bit, and I fear I will lose control. So, I decided to seal myself in this cave, hoping no civilians will be turned into the future me.
[If I seal myself here, my future self will be weakened by the lack of souls he can feed on.]
[And finally, I hope you can grant me one final wish. Please pass this book to the Thine family and let them know that their ancestor is the great Gram Thine.]
[But, of course, doing so without a reward is simply asking too much. If you notice the floating book in the room, take it. That is the most prized possession of my belongings.]
Closing the book left me feeling confused. I never put this character in. This place was originally for Amelia to discover, but I scrapped it since she is not a mage anymore.
I had hoped scrapped content would still be included, and thankfully it is. But to think a new character I don't know appeared. I theorized that the one who put me here added such a character, but I cannot confirm it and can only put it in the back of my mind.
Turning my attention toward the floating book, I grabbed it out of mid-air and examined its worn-out leather cover and weathered paper inside.
"Thank... you." A faint voice called from the book and as if time itself were reversing, the book slowly repaired itself. After a few minutes, it became a thick tome with golden intricate patterns covering the leather.
The time returned to my hand as a flood of information flowed into my head about how to use this book.
"Tome of Akashic," I muttered. It is a book that can store any information and transfer it into the user's brain. It also serves as a great replacement for my staff, acting as a catalyst.
I commanded the book to float beside me, and it followed the instructions as needed, the pages flipping occasionally.
I commanded the book to disappear, and it did so, leaving a few small page-like particles behind.
"Hmm, neat." I turned towards the scattered books and re-summoned Akashic.
"[Archive]" The Tome of Akashic raised and opened its pages wide. Blue strings connected every book in the room to Akashic, and soon, every book's name flowed into my head.
"How to Make a Magic Circuit, Spell Creation, Magic Spell Modification, Theory of the Ethereal..." Many book names crossed my mind. However it did not transfer the content, as it would probably overload my brain.
Dismissing Akashic, I turned back to the Crystal Cave and started taking pictures, videos, and samples for future plans.
Returning to the surface, I noticed it was already sundown, with night approaching.
Quickly returning to the station, I managed to board the last train before it closed.
"Phew, that was close." I rested on one of the many empty benches but encountered a familiar couple.
"Eh? Is that you, Ethan?" Liam's voice rang out, making me turn.
"Well, this is unexpected," Ava said, reminding me that Liam and Ava were here because they had found an undiscovered dungeon and wanted to explore it.
"It's nice to meet you again," I said.
"That monotone voice doesn't seem nice," Ava pointed out. The reason for this is that I want to stay far away from every main character; they are all trouble magnets.
"I don't know what you are talking about." I turned to the side and watched the train move through the terrain.
"Ethan, I've noticed that you only act like this when you speak to me, Ava, Amelia, and Oliver. Is there anything bothering you involving us?" Liam pointed out my behavior.
"Well—" I was about to make an excuse, but the sound of the train's roof thumping interrupted me.
Looking outside the window, many harpies were following the train. Liam and Ava both went serious, and all of us grabbed our weapons from our bracelets. The train slowly stopped a hard-coded fail-safe if anything happened.
"A dungeon outbreak near?"
Soon, a tear opened in the roof, revealing a huge horde of harpies.
"Mana bolt edit." A fast-moving mana bolt pierced through the first harpy and continued to home in on the next closest one. The power of the spell shocked both Liam and Ava.
"Do you guys have any mana potions?" I asked as I fired another Mana bolt. Liam unhesitatingly retrieved a lesser mana potion from his bracelet and gave it to me.
Downing the potion, I checked how much mana I had restored.
--
Mana: 3750/10000
--
It's only 250, as the 1500 is my mana regeneration working during the trip back to the train.
Considering my options, I had no choice but to wear the sage's robe to increase my mana regeneration. I summoned my tome and retrieved a spell from the Akashic archive.
"Alright, be ready to kill every harpy." I chanted as the harpies tried to enter the train but were killed by Liam or Ava.
The roof of the train had already been removed by the constant assault from the harpies.
"Leviathan's grasp: edit!" I finished my chant, and the Tome of Akashic opened wide as many hands spewed out, each hand grabbing a harpy and dragging it into the book.
As soon as the ensnared harpy came close, they were immediately dispatched by Ava and Liam.
Soon, all the harpies were eliminated, leaving three figures among a pile of harpies.
"Huff, huff." I stored my robe and the Tome as I supported myself with my staff.
Mana: 10/10000
That spell cost almost all my available mana, mainly because I edited the spell to increase the number of hands.
"You alright?" Noticing my exhausted figure, Liam asked in concern.
"I'm fine, just exhausted my mana is all." I sat on one of the clean chairs that was not dirtied by the harpy's blood. Soon enough, the train continued to move, having noticed that the obstacle was cleared.
"Phew, that was a surprise." Ava also rested.
"Tell me about it," I lamented as I tried to ignore the burning pain of mana exhaustion. Liam retrieved one more mana potion from his bracelet and gave it to me.
"Thanks," I said, and gulped down the potion. I was too exhausted to act monotone.
"Those spells were very powerful," Liam commended.
"agree with Liam," Ava nodded.
"Thank you." Feeling a heavy sense come over me I gave in instantly and fell asleep.