-10 minutes later…

I mentally sighed at what I had done.

Why did it turn out to be a massacre?

Ugh… No use lamenting over it, I guess.

Right now, we are going deeper into the castle, according to my mental map.

Thankfully, she didn’t try to lure me into a trap or scream for the guards, avoiding any more blood shedding.

Now that I’m reminded, whenever I killed someone, a message saying that I gained their abilities appeared.

I try to rack my brain for the reason, and I finally remembered.

The skill ‘Consume’, allows me to gain the opponent’s abilities if they are killed by me.

It never thought that it would be used so soon..

Anyhow, after 2 more minutes of walking, we reached a large door, a bit smaller than the throne room’s.

This time, no guards were present in it, but rather it was enchanted with many defensive seals.

Only those allowed to could enter.

Sadly, I have only learned how to detect and identify the enchantments and seals, but nothing about bypassing or breaking them.

The maid pushed the door, which glowed for a moment, then finally opened.

Inside were rows upon rows of bookshelves, going as high as 3 floors, with a few tall ladders leaning on them.

We both enter, then she asks me which section I want to read.

Priorities first, let’s go find some ability books.

I told her so, then we move for a while until we reach the usual strange books.

We meet again, elemental books!

I went in and started taking out books, but I realized that just touching it is enough to open up the ‘Read’ message.

This is going to take long…

…

-3 Hours later..

ARGH!

I haven’t already reached half the books yet.

On the way, I picked up a new ability called ‘Magic Hand’, which increased my speed by a lot, but there is still A LOT.

Since I felt hungry, I asked the maid to get me some food, since I get hungry quickly.

I didn’t eat for like, 6 hours or so?

She gave me a nod, then bowed and left.

I’m starting to wonder, why does she still respect me?

No matter.. I’ve got lots and lots of books begging to be ‘Read’.

…

-5 Hours later..

FINALLY!

Midway, the maid finally brought food, which I ate heartedly.

There might be poison, or so I thought, so I used ‘Purify’, and ate.

Thankfully, the food stuffed me enough, and I got back to ‘Reading’.

And here I am, a living encyclopedia.

Due to one of my unlocked skills, now any book I read will have it’s contents stored in my brain like a picture in a mobile phone.

And since I used ‘Magic Hand’ for long, it leveled up enough for me to use 3 at the same time, but the problem is controlling what they are doing.

As a solution, giving them basic orders like ‘Touch this whole row of books’, is enough.

At least it isn’t as complex as telling it for be my sparring partner.

For now, I decided to take a break and replenish my non-existent stamina bar.

Then, it struck me.

Couldn’t I use ‘Heal’ to refresh my stamina?

Just like that, I discovered the way to work for as long as I wish.

‘Sleepless’ and ‘Heal’, truly broken, if I might say.

There were many abilities which could be leveled up by just keeping them cast on my body, so I did so as the cost is nowhere near my regeneration rate.

Since my mind was now relieved that I got what I came for, I decided to look at my status screen.

Name : Archillies Duane

Level : 53

HP : 36900 = (9050 + (84*50) + 5200)*2

MP : 84800 = (12900+(243*100) + 5200)*2

-Stats :

STR+ : 189

AGI+ : 230

DEF+ : 301

VIT+ : 245

INT+ : 347

WIS+ : 221

WIL+ : 179

LUK+ : 342

Stat Points : 1032

Skill Points : 430

--Achievements :

>The Educated : One who learned and understood the concepts of the world. +20 INT and WIS

>All-Elements Dabbler : -20% Cost of all magicks.

>Headstarter : By surpassing 50 points in all stats, gain +4 stat and skill points per level.

>Skill Master : Unlock all of the skill tree. -70% Cost of all abilities, +400% power of all abilities.

>Sleepless : Sleep is no longer needed, however, fatigue might accumulate.

>Hidden Skill Routes Master : Unlock all of the hidden skills. Abilities will have 0% chance of failure, learning abilities and creating hybrid abilities is 500% Easier.

>World Traveller : Gain access to the world traveller exclusive effects and abilities.

>One Hit Killer : Increase damage by 200% for all attacks.

If who I fought were considered strong, then what am I?

I’m not a battle maniac by any means, so as long as there is excitement, I’m up for it.

Truth to be told, the books were fascinating.

Containing both history and knowledge, I could read them without getting bored.

What interested me was the history.

About 5000 years ago, this world was like medieval Earth, but suddenly, a meteor struck the planet, changing its foundation completely.

The meteor, now present in the middle of the continent, produces both mana and water.

However, due to the thickness of mana, normal animals started getting mutated, becoming what they call today as monsters.

Of course, not all monsters right now are deadly, there are many domestic ones, like a slightly bigger type of goat called Meij.

According to those who lived long enough, they have met intelligent monsters.

One prime example is Greater Dragons.

Of course, no one could tame them as their power is immeasurable due to the fact that they reside in the very center, too close to the meteor.

Problem is, too much exposure to thick mana results in mana sickness, and if not treated quickly, they will lose their minds and become something akin to ghouls.

What is even more dangerous is if mages were the ones to get sick, as they become Greater Ghouls, able to use magic and abilities of whoever was infected, thus it has become a point where all kingdoms just leave it alone, with a few extermination requests if a large number of monsters appear all of the sudden.

And now comes the ‘Demon King’.

According to the books, what the king told me was correct, except for the part where they lay waste and take control of land for no reason.

The demon king unites the monsters, yes, but after that, they just develop and try to cope with the current society, but it usually fails as humans are not so trusting and could backstab with a moment’s thought.

As for the reason they are called ‘Demon’, it is largely because they emit nearly limitless miasma, which is why monsters abide by them.

Of course, there were instances where the demon controls the miasma and still rules over, but either way, they are still called a demon.

The other, small reason was because they have black goat-like horns and crimson red eyes, but that is too judgemental, don’t you think?

Now then, I lie down on my makeshift couch made of books and order the magic hands to go and work in the other sections.

Now then, back to the matter at hand.

What should I do?

In all honesty, I could just go back to my world as if, but what am I going to do there?

Flaunt my magic? Become a prisoner for experimentation.

Or even better, become the no. 1 natural enemy of humankind.

Or just do nothing and live my life like normal, which is impossible at this point.

Heck, I doubt that if someone came and tried to slice or stab me, their weapon would just shatter.

Now that I think about it.. Am I going to always fight bare handed?

I know that I get more flexibility in hand to hand combat, but what if someone wielding a quarterstaff came at me?

I can’t always rely on magic, there will always be that person who could nullify my magic, just like what I did to assassin.

Then, it struck me.

Why not create my own alive metal?

But it was quickly cast away as a mere dream.

Nothing such as alive metals were present in the books.

Or maybe..!

I get up from the couch and use my new ability ’Search’, which looks for a keyword that I chose.

This time, I used two searches, one for smithy and one for alchemy.

Thankfully, there were results, but they were on the highest bookshelf in another section.

Feeling lazy, I cast ‘Fly’ and slowly hover towards the books.

I didn’t go fast since I can’t really control it well yet.

Once I reached the bookshelf, I swiped my finger on all of the books, just in case, and acquire what I wanted.

Knowledge about minerals and rituals flooded in my head, to be dissipate in an instant.

While I was reviewing the alchemy part, I found that I was missing a part.

Herblore.

I used the keywords herbs and potion, finding them to be in the bookshelf right below the one I was at.

I hovered down, then started the same thing, touch books, say yes, repeat.

After about 20 minutes of processing the new information, I thought :

Can’t I just create more magic hands if I pour more mana?

As such, I did so.

And the result was…

Bigger magic hands.

I facepalmed at the terrible failure.

Looks like I can’t just cheat my way through, huh.

Well, I’m going to go to the cooking section, then ask the maid to show me the chef while the magic hands do their work.

Or so I thought, until a room hidden between the innumerable bookshelves was discovered.

It was somehow growing menacingly red, with a visible blood seal on it.

Thankfully, I was able to dismantle it after some work, to find a large, thick book sitting on an altar, glowing the same red as the door.

I used ‘Inspect’ on it, and stared at the text before me, flabbergasted.

======Chap2 end=====