Deciding to ignore the telepathy in action here, Richard decided to focus on what was in front of him, which was the holy water that filled the pool before him.
Looking at the pool, he couldn't say that there was anything special about it. It was like a normal pool and not what he was expecting at all.
However, despite how disappointing the pool was to him, he still pulled off his clothes and immediately jumped in.
This was his acceptance ritual, so there was no reason not to do so.
"Argh!!" Richard shouted as he jumped into the pool.
Gritting his teeth and readying his mind, Richard prepared for the eventual pain. As soon as he entered the water, he felt some sort of energy enter his body, and immediately, he knew he was done for.
However, unlike what he expected, there was no pain. He found it relaxing. It was like returning to his mother's embrace.
"Were you expecting it to be painful?" he heard the apparition ask.
"I thought it was the standard… I thought this was holy water; shouldn't it, like, burn away my evils and such?" Richard asked.
"It's just water, blessed by me, but it's still just water. You humans and your imagination," the apparition said as it conjured up what looked like a beach chair… No, it was a beach chair.
Seeing this, Richard decided to simply swim more. If there were any benefits of his continued presence within the sacred water, then he would like to gain those as well.
«Ding!!»
A loud beep was heard after what seemed like an hour of swimming. Alert and confused, Richard immediately surfaced as he searched for its source.
«Configuring Status»
Richard heard a new voice and immediately turned to the apparition, who looked like he was taking a nap.
«Installing Codex»
"Ayoo, what the f…" Richard shouted as he quickly got out of the water.
He didn't know what it was, but he knew that it was probably caused by the water.
"Are you already tired of swimming?" the apparition asked as soon as he got out of the water.
"First, I wasn't swimming. I can't swim… That was floating. And second, did you hear that voice?" Richard asked.
"That was quicker than expected. It seems like you will probably be more useful than I thought," the apparition said before standing up and walking out of the weird pool room.
"Was that normal?" Richard asked as he gave the room a last look before running to catch up.
"In here, yes, it is," the apparition said before suddenly fading out of existence.
"Shit!!" Richard shouted in fear as he jumped back.
Hiding behind one of the shelves, Richard slowly peeked into the small passageway it had disappeared into, all to see if he could catch a glimpse of whatever it was that had attacked the apparition.
"If there existed a thing that could do that to me, I don't think I would be called the Akashic Library," a familiar voice was heard from behind him. It was just right by his ear.
"What the f…" Richard shouted in shock and fear as he fell to the ground.
Behind him, or now before him, was the apparition again… No, it now had a physical body. This was the original.
"You know you cuss a little too much for your young age. Follow me," the being said.
"Well, stop scaring the shit out of me at every turn," Richard complained as he stood while trying to maintain any chance of dignity he had left.
"Follow me," the being said before turning around and walking through the seemingly eternal shelves in the space.
After a while and by pure miraculous means, they came upon the original centre space he had first appeared in.
The red carpet made it look pristine and grand, and the architecture of such a place made it seem otherworldly.
"It is surprising to me that a human of all things knows of my existence and, above all, is compatible enough to hear my voice. You fascinate me, young one," the being said while it walked.
"Uh… Thank you," Richard replied.
"That implies that I do not know something, but I know all, even before they were created, even before time began," the being said in a grand tone.
Richard didn't know how, but he could hear the being's voice from all over the library. It was as if he were in a cinema.
"Then what am I doing here?"
"Richard Nnaji, student of the University of Port Harcourt, first-year student of Library and Information Science… This is a library, is it not?"
"If that's the reason why I am here, then things definitely wouldn't be going your way."
"You will know the true reason when the time is right. For now, you are an aspiring librarian. Do your duty!"
"Okay, you are the god here. What do I do?" Richard gave up.
Nothing that was happening now made any sense, so there was no point in trying to rationalize it. He was an aspiring librarian within the greatest library in the entire universe, standing before the greatest record keeper and librarian. The best he could do was to follow its lead and wait for the so-called 'right time'.
"Explore," the being said with a smile.
Hearing him, Richard felt like strangling him. Was he doing all this just for the laughs or what? Deciding not to pay it anymore mind, he began to pay attention to his surroundings more.
<
"Can I ask a question?"
"The Codex is exactly what you think of it as. It's a book for recording. It is up to you to discover more of its hidden features, but for now, I would advise you to explore here and maybe read as much as you can while you can," the being replied.
"Oh… Kay," Richard replied before looking down.
For some reason, he still didn't understand anything that was happening. It wouldn't be weird to say that he was even more confused, but since the being didn't look all that eager to answer him, he decided to let it go.
Turning around, Richard was overwhelmed by the mighty number of shelves available. As he had noticed multiple times, they seemed to have no end.
However, looking around now, there was a section of the library that was blacked out for some reason. Just beside it, though, was a section that glowed brightly even in the well-lit library.
"Am I supposed to start reading from there?" Richard asked himself.