Zane watched as the shelves fully went back to how they were before. He couldn't help but feel panicked; he could feel his heart beating faster and faster, seeing that the shelves closed the only exit he could use.
The force started to disappear each second as well, but what was the point? He was already stuck inside the mysterious hall.
'You gotta be kidding me!'
Finally, the force that was pulling him into the mysterious hall finally disappeared.
He stopped not so far away from the exit of the mysterious hall.
He stared blankly in front of him; even though he could only see stones, he couldn't take his eyes away from them.
Zane was breathing heavily, with sweat dripping down his forehead. He was sitting on the floor, completely dumbfounded by the situation he was in.
Lowering his head, looking at the ground. He released a heavy sigh.
"I need to calm down. It's fine; I probably won't die, right?"
"..."
He sat motionlessly, then his emotions shifted into anger. Furiously, he punched the ground with all his might.
Thud!
"Just why the hell do I have to be so unlucky?! What did I ever do to deserve all this shit?!"
As Zane was ranting about his experiences, he could suddenly feel his mana core responding to something again.
Zane's angry face turned into curiosity.
'Huh? That feeling again. But didn't I drop the ancient book earlier?'
Suddenly, he could feel his mana core shaking much harder than before, and this time it didn't stop. As if something... someone was calling him from behind.
'W-what the hell is happening?!'
Zane looked behind him.
His eyes widened; the sight in front of him was truly a sight to behold.
At the very end of the hallway, he could see an altar. And in that altar, a book was floating...
"...A book?"
Zane stared at it for a while, confused. The book felt like it was calling out to him.
The book was ancient and unsettling; its blackened cover cracked like dried earth. Glowing blue runes etched across its surface pulsed faintly, their light shifting as if alive. The edges of the pages were frayed and darkened, as though burned, and the spine seemed barely strong enough to hold its secrets. It looked like it had been plucked from the depths of a nightmare.
'...How strange... I've never seen such a book before.'
Zane couldn't comprehend the situation he was in; however, he couldn't help but admire the book from afar. It looked beautiful somehow; it was unlike anything he had seen before.
Zane slowly stood up.
He then headed towards the floating book.
The hallway was very long, so it took him much longer to reach where the book was.
Soon after, he reached the end of the hallway; he then headed towards the floating book, getting closer to it.
He also felt like he was in heaven because of the bright light that surrounded him.
As he got closer to it, his mana core was shaking even more.
"Beautiful; I never thought such a book could exist in the Irolveil castle."
Zane touched his chest.
"But why is my mana core shaking so hard?"
"That's strange…"
Zane stared at the floating book, amazed by how amazing the sight was. He couldn't help but stand motionlessly and admire the sight in front of him.
'Is my mana core responding to this book's existence? '
'But how could that be?'
'Should I try taking it?'
However, as Zane thought about what had happened earlier, he hesitated. I mean, because of his curiosity, he pulled out the ancient book, and now he ended up here. What could the possibility be that he would have to face another consequence again if he touched the mysterious floating book on the altar?
He sighed.
He then sat down on the ground.
He felt helpless and hopeless.
As Zane sat down, staring at the floating book in front of him. He thought of all the things he had experienced in his life. All the mistakes he made, all the humiliation and embarrassment he went through. He couldn't help but feel really pathetic.
Wouldn't it be better if he just died?
This thought had been in his mind for as long as he could remember.
He lowered his head.
"Fuck it, if I die, then so what? I bet my father and... mother would be happy."
He could never understand why... why he had to be such a failure. Why he could never reach the expectations of others.
Zane stood up.
Then he went closer to the floating book on the altar.
With no slight hesitation, he grabbed the book.
The book was now in his hand. But, strangely, nothing happened...
Zane looked at the book.
Something was strange...
The book was... It was glowing brighter as seconds went by.
Zane's mana core also shook much harder than before, to the point that it actually started to hurt him. Zane kneeled down on the floor, dropping the book, then holding his chest tightly.
'Painful!'
'Shit, it's painful!'
However, even despite the amount of pain he was feeling, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"I guess this is it, huh?"
But, suddenly. That faint smile disappeared the moment his focus shifted to the book on the ground. It looked like... it was about to explode!
"Wait! Hold on, it's a bit pitiful to die like this!"
But before he could do anything, a very large beam arose from the book. Blinding Zane's eyes. He tried to take a step back and cover his eyes, waiting for the disaster to end.
Zane tried to crawl, trying to get away from the large beam that was blinding his eyes. Surprisingly, the beam wasn't hurting him at all. Despite it looking like it could destroy a castle.
Zane crawled, ignoring the pain the mana core was giving him. He crawled until he couldn't handle the pain of the shaking mana core; it felt like it was going to be destroyed into pieces. He simply clenched his chest and took cover, waiting for the large beam to disappear.
Zane waited and waited for the beam to disappear.
Moments afterwards, the beam finally disappeared.
'Is it gone? Gosh, I almost had a heart attack.'
Zane slowly looked behind him, just to make sure. However, what he saw made his eyes widen in shock.
'Huh? The book... it turned into ashes...'
It seems that the book probably disintegrated from the large beam.
But what Zane was curious about was how the beam came from the book. After all, all he did was touch it, and then suddenly the blue light in the middle of the book started to grow even brighter, until a beam arose from it.
Zane stared at the disintegrated book for a while; he couldn't help but feel like it was such a waste. The book looked so beautiful after all.
As Zane stared at the book, he slowly stood up.
He then headed closer to the pitiful book.
Closer and closer, he then stared at it on the ground.
He then lowered his upper body to take a closer look at the book on the ground.
"Woah, if I had been caught up on the large beam, I would have been dead... probably disintegrated like this too."
"Hmm, you're right. You would've definitely been disintegrated."
"Yeah, I would've definitely been disinte-."
"..."
"Huh?!"
Zane looked beside him, and what he saw shook him to the very core. Hell, this time he could've actually had a heart attack!
There was a man—no, a demon perhaps?
Zane jumped back, getting far away from the demon. One glance at him, and you could easily tell that he was panicking. Zane was breathing heavily and was sweating really hard.
Zane scanned the demon in front of him. He almost looked human-like, except for the fact that he had a horn on his forehead.
The man floated above the ground, his red hair glowing like fire. His robes, colored in red, gold, and white, shimmered with magic, moving as if caught in a gentle wind. His sharp eyes seemed to see everything, and his hands sparkled with powerful energy.
The floating demon shifted his eyes to Zane; a smile appeared on his face, and he said:
"Hmm, so it was you, huh? To think my plan actually worked... the Thaleward family truly is amazing."
He sighed, then said afterwards.
"But, it seems that my physical body disappeared... what a shame, but either way, I'm sure I can get it back sooner in the future."
Zane looked at the floating demon with horror on his face.