Edited by: KenChi死

You have finished [Exploration of the Ruins of the Ancients] quest Rewards - Exp [3300]

- 00g80s00c

I reported back to Mike and collected my reward.

“Here, 67 silver coins. Those 13 silver will cover the fee for renting a room and the rest of your expenses that you made in the last month. Of course, every copper coin you spend within the Guild has been recorded and if you have such a wish I can give you the report. Just in case you would wonder if we are ripping you off.”

Mike smiled. I was far from accusing them of stealing coins.

“Thanks. And there is no such need. I will keep counting on your hard work. As I am thinking about it… 80 silvers for a week of working. Isn’t that a lot?” “Of course it is! Many people haven’t seen such amount of money in the one place for the duration of their whole life. I earn this much in a year! More or less… depends on performance…” “Why is the difference is so big? I thought that the administration worker would earn a lot, I mean… not everyone can read and write nor count, right?” “Well, it’s but a normal thing. Farmers and hunters earn in copper, merchants in silver, nobles in gold and King is nobles!...” He chuckled a little “… but your job is far more important than anything else! Look at it from a different perspective. You were not given that money because you were working for a week, but because you were risking your life for a week. That’s a lot of pressure.” “Aren’t hunters also risking their life?” “Zariel… there is the difference between hunting wolf of beer and hunting a colossal monster in trap-filled dungeon…But if you think you earn too much, I know one poor accountant from lesser nobility that could use a coin or two, you won’t believe it, but he works here and is a pretty good acquaintance of yours!”

I got the joke.

“Hm? Is that so? Well, if I would meet him then maybe I will think about helping him a little…” “No. Forget about it. I am getting paid more when I help more adventurers with their jobs from a formal perspective. If you want to help me fill the questionnaire for exclusive contracts. I would inform you every time if one fitting your preferences would appear, and by taking them I would get a commission.” “Will think about it… now pardon me…” “Sure thing! Rest well!”

He yelled after me as I was walking back to my room.

Exclusive contracts, hm? The tasks on the board are open contracts. It means that everyone can sign up for them. Sometimes even more than one team can take this quest – like for herb gathering. Exclusive contacts mean that only one person or only one team can take it – like bringing a particular artifact or acting as a messenger.

The salary is better, but if you wouldn’t manage to fulfill it, the penalty would also be extremely high. There are even people that give tasks so unclear, or even disturb the team from completing the quest itself, to earn money from those penalties. You have to be careful from who you are taking the quest. But yet again, the guild administration usually is looking for these matters as well.

As I was moving on the floor I was stopped by the rest of the team from the exploration and Jericho.

“Oh, kid! Good to see you, I heard that your condition worsened as you were getting back… But it looks as everything is all right with you now.” “Greetings master. Yes, I am ok and…” “Hm... Zari…” Marika started moving her nose like a rabbit sniffing for something. “…You smell funny. Just like a woman!”

She titled her head, Gisele raised her brow, Gustav and Jeremy looked at each another and Nyx,… I had no idea what Nyx did, as his/her face was completely covered.

“Yeah. The guys I asked you for, brought to me a special place in the slums… not exactly legal nor renowned… where I was… rehabilitated.” “So the smell?” “The one in charge of my rehab was a woman. Is that weird? Medics often touch their patients.”

…. Please be a dummy, please be a dummy, please…

“Heee? I see…” thank the goddess! Hallelujah! “… it bothering me cuz’ its really strong smell. I have no idea what kind of medicine was involved, but there is almost no your natural smell… I want it back…”

Gustav turned away and Jeremy pretended he was massaging his face with both of his hands. They did that just to hide their smiles.

“Relaxing oils and such. The cause of my condition was within my mind and spirit. She eased my pain.” “Massage session?...” Gisele joined the conversation “… I have heard about those! Gerwazy took one last week!” “Oh really? Well… then you see…” “You were really not acting like yourself back then… if it helps this much, maybe I should go there too…”

…. That’s a very bad ide…

“A great idea, my dear!...” Jeremy barely stopped himself from bursting into laughter “… Maybe next time Zari would take you there? What would you say about that Zari?”

… Bloody traitor...

“Indeed, great idea. I will try to remember about it as I will be going there in the future…” I came a bit closer to him and bit angrily hissed, “… which won’t happen in the next few months!” “Is that so? Shame. Well, we have to get going, see you later!”

I was left alone with Jeremy in the corridor. I punched him in the stomach. He didn’t even try avoiding.

“Asshole!” “You blame me? Don’t you know that Fairies have really strong senses? And that one got hooked on your aura! Without a very proper bath and meditating session, you were literally asking for it! Even I know that!”

He was having fun, too much fun if you ask me

“Anyway…” he continued “… take your time to rest as much as you need. When can I expect you to be ready for our next training session?” “Maybe… First, let’s pray for a minute or two to the Goddesses, for making those two such airheads. And answering your question, I want to train my mind today. Tomorrow I will visit fabric and the Blackwoods, do some more mind training… so the day after tomorrow should be good… of course, if you don’t have anything better to do.” “No. As Guild Master, I am farting in the chair for allllll day long. Alesia is actually doing most of the work, you know? Just because they didn’t want to see a woman as the guild leader she was forced to be a secretary. And I was a hero back there… so all I could do was take the office and making her my right hand.” “…so you do nothing here? Good to know.”

He hit me with his palm. The strike almost knocked me down.

“Watch your tongue…” there was no anger in his voice. Even a bit of amusement “…she does most of paperwork, but Guild leader has far more tasks to do. Meetings, looking for additional sources of income, annual reports to the King…” “King? I thought the Guild was independent.” “It is. But to remain that way; we have to prove our worth…. Well, it usually ends with me telling stories of your adventurers to the King and his kids. Those brats love stories...” “… so you REALLY do nothing…”

He once again tried hitting me with his hand, but as I was expecting it I ducked under it.

“A-HA!” I yelled with pride.

I shouldn’t have done that. I should not have done that.

As I provoked him, he performed another strike. Faster. I didn’t see it coming.

“I surrender!” “Smart choice. Ok, go away. Train that spirit of your or whatever you want to do. Shu-shu.”

He sent me away, which irritated me a little.

~You should go fishing.

Why is that so?

~You are tense again

And how would that help me?

~Fishing is a great compromise! You can kill an innocent being AND relax at the same time! Win-win situation.

Haha! Good one. Maybe later.

I shut the door behind my back. Okay, let’s do this

~Are you sure? Last time we did it you fainted and had headache for the next two days…

And I have also improved my magic.

~But… maybe you should meditate before? To prepare yourself for that mind rape that I am going to serve you.

Nope. I prefer to meditate after that.

~As you wish.

The Codex materialized in front of me. It opened itself and pages started turning on their own until a certain page was found.

~Ok. Bite the pillow. It comes in dry.

I hear her chuckle inside my head. I wanted to reply, but the waves of knowledge mixed with pain assaulted my mind.

I saw all those symbols appearing in front of my eyes, shining for a moment before disappearing. Magical glyphs, getting more and more complicated, combining with each another creating circuits.

The astral plane i… t..e m..ost unsta…le of all real..s. Noth.. is sa..e he..e. Changing and sfi…ting all the time. But o..e has to unde..and, that tha.. is ha…i..ly influ..ed by the rest of al…native univer…es. Every th…ng that happ…e…d within the ri..er of possibl..ties will h..ve its re..elction ..ere.

My head was getting dizzy. I saw it. All of it. I saw one event leading to another. No action remains without its echo…

~Shhh… don’t think about it. You try to understand. That’s irrelevant! You can’t completely understand magic. Feel it. You won’t be able to turn the river with your own strength. Surrender to it, flow with it. Become one with it. And then use it. Even intelligence has its limits. You made great use of it up until now. But at this moment, your desire to UNDERSTAND is what blocks your progress… surrender… flow… fly… flee… Be the one with magic, and the magic will be one with you.

I relaxed a little… all those wonderful information passing right in front of my eyes. I still didn’t want to let it completely go

Yet the voice became far more understable…

Humans. Elves. Demons. Chimeras. Fairies. Merfolks. Greenskin. Blackblooded. Dragons… so many being. So many ways to understand the magic. And none truly correct. The way they learn and understand magic shall never be complete, for they are doing everything they can do prove themselves right in front of the others.

They try to force the knowledge of a path that leads to their goals.

And this is a mistake. Knowledge can’t be a path to the goal. Knowledge is a goal. If you would use it to achieve something, then the knowledge will always be lacking.

Knowledge is magic. Magic is not a path. Magic is a goal. Magic is enlightenment. By focusing on one branch of magic, you can gain a tool to achieve your goals. By mastering MAGIC – you will drink from the fountain of transcendence.

Forget what you were told. Forget what you desired. Forget what you are, what you came from, and where you go.

Just be there. With magic.

The pain was gone. My head no longer hurts, even more. There was a strange feeling of serenity flowing across my whole body.

I was deeply in trans, somewhat outside of my body. I opened my eyes.

I was not there… not even saying, that I didn’t know what THERE was.

It looked like a Kaleidoscope, within a cube covered in shifting geometrical marks. Triangles turned into squares, those into pentagons and those into hexagons. Then they connected to each other making multidimensional structures. They were getting more and more complex… and then they once again became lines which would later form triangles.

Everything is connected. Everything is attached, even if you can’t see connections. The day is connected with Night by Dusk. The night is connected with Day by Dawn. If you would take Dawn and Dusk away… could you tell the difference between Day and the Night?

Sun and Moon are connected by Light.

Love and Hate are connected by passion

Life and Death are connected… because they are the same thing.

Chaos and Order and connected by Nature.

Don’t cast aside Night if you praise the Day. Don’t forget that the Light of the Moon is the same Light that is being radiated by the Sun. You can’t hate someone if you don’t wish to be loved.

You will never Die, if you have never lived.

It’s time. Open your eye. The eye that sees through the heart. The eye that sees thought the soul. The eye that sees via Good and Evil.

The Eye that will allow you to see Beyond Gods… into Oblivion. Open it.

Open the eye!!!

What… kind of eye?

OPEN IT

But… I don’t know how… I don’t know where it is

IT IS ALL CONNECTED. NIGHT AND DAY. SUN AND MOON. LOVE AND HATE. LIFE AND DEATH. GOD AND MAGGOT!

DON’T THINK! DON’T UNDERSTAND! FEEL! BE!

What should I be?!

THE EYE!

How… Why?

If everything is connected… And everything is everything… as I was supposed to understand the magic… and to surrender to it… does it mean that I am the Magic? I am… the eye…

Finally. Long-awaited. Witness. Be a Witness. Of what is yet to come. To what is about to happen.

What is about to happen?

Not yet. Soon.

But time is relevant.

Many humans life shall pass… within one blink of the Leviathan’s eye.

Knowledge. Use it well. Like those before you. My apprentice.

Who are you?

The First of the bearers of Chaos. The first worshipper of Heira. The Creator of the Codex.

My name is….

I woke up.

Really? At a moment like that!?

Great. Simply great. I raised from my position to meditate… and the first thing I did right after that was vomiting rapidly.

The process of reading the Codex used to be painful. Yeah, I lowered my guard. The process needs to have its price. I should have predicted that. Well, silly me.

~Hey! Stop ignoring me you little bastard! Are you even there!?

What do you want?

~Wha… what do you… If I would have the body of my own, I would have just ripped your leg off and shove it in your ass! We were about to start studying, but you spaced out!

Codex-chan… one question… did you, perhaps, notice me puking right now?... no conclusion?

~… What happened?

I wish I know! But… I am sure I have studied the arts… bah! You were talking to me!

~It did not happen!

It was your voice! You told me that I am trying to understand instead of feeling your teaching too much!

~… Zari… Magic is a law. You can’t feel the law! YOU HAVE TO FUCKING KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! FEEL THE MAGIC!? WHAT KIND OF FUCKING BULLSHIT IS THAT?! Saying so I am even more sure that I have never said that. Oh! I know! You should get something by studying! Some mental attributes points, skills… info about the locations of artifacts… Is there anything?

Speaking about the devil… notification I ignored…

By studying the Codex you have unlocked new manifestation for [Appraisal] skill [Astral eye] [Astral Eye] The special mode that can be activating during [Appraisal]

Astral Eye is also named as All-Seeing Eye

The spell was told be to lost, and not many information is known for sure.

It is said, that the users of this Eye will always know the truth, will see things hidden from everyone else, or even see things from places far away.

Astral Eye, huh?

~ What did you say?

Let’s see what we are dealing with…

~Zari! Don’t!

But of course, it was too late.

Can you please remind me, what did I say about everything having its price?

Heira was drinking wine while sitting on her throne and looking at a semi-digital map of the world in front of her.

One of her succubi was taking care to always keep her glass full. She could do nothing but look at the doings of her mistress. Finally, she couldn’t bare it and said.

“Pardon me, my lady… but I am not sure if this was wise…” “Wise? I am pretty sure that Amita was the goddess of wisdom. Why should I act wisely?” “But…” “Listen, pet… I gave him a pretty nice tool… don’t you think? But what’s the point in doing so, if he can’t use it?” “But he was doing his researches! Back in the library he really found lots of clues! The only reason why it takes this long is that the symbols were used in ancients times…” “Aito… listen now... I don’t care about such things as morals or logic… imagine…” she paused for a while “… that our world is nothing more but a book… just a story… And everything have a purpose in this story! One cares about points, few about characters, few about morals and few about the passion… and I am here to make it entertaining. I am the one that bring action to the story… in the end… who likes to read a story about sitting all day long in the inn?”

She smiled gently as she stretched lazily her body on the throne.(ED: Rip the fourth wall)