Logically, this shouldn’t be possible, but it was…

In front of me was a desk, behind me was a door, all around me were millions of books that gave off an oppressing aura, and sitting behind the desk was a blacked-out figure surrounded by a thick, pitch-black fog that hid anything that even touched it, much less was inside it. It was The Professor, and I was in his study, and how I got there, I don’t know. All I could hear was the sound of writing coming from within the fog, when I felt The Professor’s gaze fall upon me.

“Hello, Maxwell.”

“H-Hello, Professor.”

“How’ve you been?”

“Good, Professor.”

“That’s good. Forgive me for not getting up to greet you. I’m very busy.”

“Oh, n-no. It’s fine. I’m just wondering, uhm, where am I?”

“Oh, this is my study.”

“It’s very nice.”

“Thank you. I made the room using a unique tree.”

“Oh, w-wow.”

“Yeah, The World Tree wasn’t too happy, but it agreed after I promised it some very special fertilizer.”

“Eh?”

“Hehe! That dumb tree thought it had gotten something remarkable, but it had no idea that I had given it Dragon Poop!”

“...”

“Anyway, I called you here to make sure the gift had arrived.”

“What g-gift?”

“Well, not every scroll does that, you know”

“Wait, you mean-!”

“Yep, that was your birthday gift.”

“How did you k-know my birthday?”

“Secret.”

“Oh, when is my birthday?”

“Your birthday is the 2nd of December.”

“Really?”

“Yep, and as for your brother, it’s the 12th of September.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Anyways, I just wanted to teach you how to use it appropriately.”

“What do you m-mean?”

“The language on the scroll is very special, you know. It is called The Common Language of The Outer Gods, or Clopthog. And although it is just the common language The Outer Gods use, it still is very powerful.”

“...”

“So I’m going to teach you the very basics, as any more than that, and I worry the Outer Gods may try to get rid of you.”

“W-What?!”

“Yeah, I know. Even though it is simply Clopthog, the Outer Beings still take great pride in it, so they don’t like people without merit simply using it, but speaking it is fine. Just over-using it in an attack would cause the Outer Beings to get agitated, so I’ll only teach you the basics, and from there, you formulate your own method for using the language in more complex ways.”

“Thank you, P-Professor.”

“Of course, Maxwell. Let us begin.”

The Professor’s pen stopped writing as his shining, crimson eyes moved up within the fog, as the fog began to move towards me. And so began the training.

I won’t go into detail as to how The Professor trained me, as even I don’t remember, apparently due to the mere trauma caused by the training, but I remember what he taught me as clear as day. He taught me about something called Weaving, a power that didn’t rely on mana. In fact, it didn’t rely on anything coming from inside one’s body, but rather it required one to converse with the universe. It’s like trying to convince the universe to help you out, and that is what mana is to a certain degree, but as The Professor phrased it,

“It’s like using a sword. If you were to use a wooden sword, no matter how good your skill or how much you sharpen that sword, it’ll never cut as well as a metal sword that you’ve sharpened the same amount of times or practiced with for the same amount of years.”

And that is why he taught me this language. This language was beyond mana, beyond power. It was a way to not only convince the universe to help me out, but can eventually even control the law of causality, but he said that path is too small for my destiny, so he taught me how to use the language differently. He taught me how to influence things within the universe using Clopthog, but he said that I should never use this ability beyond this room. His final lesson was how to run the power of weaving through me and use it, similar to how a thread may flow through a needle. The only issue was that I couldn’t store energy inside me, so he also taught me how to maximize the amount of energy I could pull into my body and use. It was like threading a needle and wrapping the thread around the needle as much as possible before the universe would just force the thread out. Before long, I found myself saying goodbye to The Professor before suddenly waking up in the carriage.

I looked around, wondering how much time had passed. I walked out of the room I was in, only to find that the length of time I had spent in that place, which seemed to be ages long, only took an entire carriage ride. We had arrived at Mr. Sjorn’s estate, and Mr. Sjorn and all the servants were standing in front of the gate, waiting for us. I straightened out my jacket and grabbed the cane Drafold had put into the spatial bag. I walked out with the best posture I could muster, and greeted Mr. Sjorn with a bow.

“Hello, Maxwell.”

“Hello, Your Grace.”

“How’d it go?”

“I-I succeeded.”

“I see. Very well. I will greet you in my office.”

It was a very quiet conversation, yet when I had said I succeeded, the servants had all cheered. I couldn’t help but blush a bit. I began to walk inside, nervously bowed towards the servants. After walking inside, I took a deep sigh of relief. I followed Mr. Sjorn right up to his office, where he had the golden doors reinstalled. He opened them again and walked inside with me right behind. I sat down on the chair in front of the desk, feeling nostalgic, remembering The Professor’s study. Then Mr. Sjorn sat down and entangled his fingers.

“So, how was it, Maxwell?”

“I-It was good, I guess.”

“That’s great. It seems your stuttering has greatly decreased.”

“Yes, you’re correct. I-I don’t stutter as much as I used to.”

“That’s good. I’m sorry, but as Duke, I cannot show you much favoritism, but I am able to show you thanks. I heard Duke Skever had already rewarded you with great treasures, and I know I don’t have treasures better than his, but I do have something he doesn’t. Books. And tons of impossible-to-find books. Come with me for a bit.”

Mr. Sjorn got up and walked around the estate. He led me on an all too familiar path, which led to a set of familiar wooden doors. We had arrived at the library. He opened the doors in the library and led me to the stone doors that were at the back of the room.

“Here it is. Beyond here is another library, older and not as magnificent as this one, but rather think of it as a very big reading room. Then beyond this door is another door. That door you must unlock with your own power, and every door beyond that must also be unlocked with your power. This door merely requires authorization.”

“I u-understand. And what books are in here?”

“These doors lead to a library filled with books on secret knowledge. No, it’s better to say it’s full of books that need to be locked away and stay secret.”

“I see. T-Thank you for such a reward, s-sir.”

“Well then, I’ll leave you know. Ah, actually, would you like me to tell Mrs. Culder to make you something?”

“Yes, actually. I’m very hungry, s-sir.”

“Very well then.”

Mr. Sjorn walked away with his usual grace. Once he left, I entered the library that was filled with an ominous aura. I walked around, touching each book I walked by. The air in this section was dry and cool. I continued walking around, when I noticed a book with a very interesting title.

{Forgotten Legends of Outer Beings}

I grabbed the book and looked at the spine, looking for an author. The author’s name was Orshleck Ouranos Olmes. I went looking around for another book by him, and found that there was only one other book by that author.

{The Unknowns}

I grabbed that book as well and went to sit at a small desk in the corner of the room. I lit the candle on the desk, as the room was barely lit, and the nearest light source wasn’t reaching me. I then flipped open the first book I found, and almost instantly shut it.

I opened the book slowly this time and was met with true horror. Hidden beneath the cover was a inky hole filled with hands, tentacles, eyes, and mouths, all trying to pull me in. This book wasn’t a normal book, but a book that literally took you to another world. I walked back over to the shelves and chose a random book on the shelf. It was labeled

{Extreme Physics: A Compilation of The Impossible?}

I took the book over to the desk and opened it up as well, and I was met this time with a kaleidoscope of universes, galaxies, and horrifying equations written with planets. I shut the book as well and put it back in its place. I walked back to the book that I first opened. I sat down with the book laying down in front of me. After staring at it and feeling it stare back at me, I forced myself to read it. I opened the front cover and met all the eyes staring at me with fiery eyes and all the mouths with a slight smile. I was a bit excited to enter this new world.

I was sucked into the book, into this weird world, just as I had expected. I found myself in a black void, surrounded by the shuffling of thousands of beings, when a being that exuded an awful pressure stepped forward and began speaking.

“Ϯħƙƙɟ, ʧɟƿʈœ ɟʈħ. Ƌħƙðɟƣħ ʊɟ ɟƿɵ ϯƿƣæƙħ ȣɟƒþ. Øϯ, ħɖðƿƴħ ʊϯħ ƴϯƿŋŋƙƒʈœ. Ƌħ ƕƿƴʊ ϯøȣħʈ'ʊ ϯøþ øʈʧɟʈħ ƌϯɟ'þ ƙƒƛħ ʊɟ ϯħøɵ ɟƿɵ ƴʊɟɵƒħƴ ƒʈ þɟþħðøƙƙƒɟʈƴ ɟŋ ħɟʈƴ, øƴ ʊϯħ ðƿɵɵħʈʊ ɟƿʊħɵ æħƒʈœƴ þɟʈ'ʊ ƙƒƛħ æħƒʈœ ɵħƣƒʈþħþ ɟŋ ʊϯħ ʊħɵɵɟɵƴ ɟŋ ɟƙþ, ƴɟ ʊϯħʧ ŋɟɵœɟʊ øæɟƿʊ ƿƴ. Æƿʊ þɟʈ'ʊ ƣƒʈþ ƿƴ, ƌħ'ɵħ ƕƿƴʊ ƴʊɟɵʧʊħƙƙħɵƴ. Ƌɟƿƙþ ʧɟƿ ƙƒƛħ ʊɟ ϯħøɵ ɟƿɵ ƙħœħʈþƴ?”

The being spoke in Clopthog, surprising me.

“Ah, I should’ve known a human couldn’t speak Clopthog. It was only wishful thinking, yes.”

“O-Oh, no sir. I understood. I-I just didn’t expect you to speak i-it. Ƒ ƛʈɟƌ ϯɟƌ.”

(From this point onwards, whenever Clopthog is spoken, it’ll be surrounded by {} rather than “”)

“Oh, then translate what I said.”

“You said, ‘Hello, young one. W-Welcome to our humble void. Ah, excuse the shuffling. We just haven't h-had anyone who'd like to hear our stories in d-dodecallions of eons, as the current outer beings just d-don't like being reminded of the terrors of old, so t-they forgot about us. But don't be afraid of us, we're just s-storytellers now. Would you like to hear our l-legends?’.” (That memory)

“Ohoho! It seems you truly know Clopthog!”

{Yes, I do.}

{Well, that makes it easier to speak. I know Clopthog better than any other language. Now, tell me your name.}

{My name is M-Maxwell Merlin Moriarty.}

{I see. I am know as Øςøʊϯɟʊϯ (Azathoth).}

{A-Azathoth?}

{Yes, I am Azathoth. I am feared by my successors, as if I wake up, they worry they’d be consumed, becoming part of me again, but little do those unfilial successors realize I’ve always been awake! It’s just that part of the Revelation was misinterpreted, and so I became feared!}

{Oh, that’s s-sad.}

{It is. Well, that aside, would you like to hear our stories?}

{Oh, s-sure, I gues. I love s-stories.}

{Well then, let’s start with my story. It’s a bit scary, but here we go…}

And so, the Eldest Beings began telling me their stories, ranging from the world’s scariest sea-monster to the world’s cruelest existence. They each told me their stories, some proud of what they had done, others regretful. I listened to every one of them until there was no story to be told. After that, Azathoth came forward again.

{Thank you Maxwell for listening to us. We’re grateful, really. Well, I guess it’s about time you leave. But before you go, stand up straight.}

{What’re y-you doin?}

{Oh, well, you see, knowing our legends and tales are big burdens. So big in fact that only powerful outer beings could take the burdens. So I must erase your memories.}

{No, p-please don’t. I really like the stories}

{Maxwell, I can’t.}

{Just t-this once?}

{I-I can’t…}

{P-Please?}

{F-Fine. But you must first take the test of worth.}

{What i-is that?}

{You see, Maxwell, us Outer Gods barely recognize to anyone. Only to people who can withstand seeing us, as all but very few who see our true forms have lost their minds, which is why it’s pitch-black in here. So you must pass each of our tests in order to leave with our stories.}

{Okay, let’s d-do it.}

{Then, Reveal Thy Forms.}

The moment Azathoth said that, I felt the power of weaving being used. The void turned bright, as slowly one being at a time revealed themselves before me. And boy was it horrifying. Each being revealed an existence more horrifying than the last. And each existence was an even-bigger-than-the-last living proof for me of how people who saw these beings went insane. But for some reason, other than some innate distaste, I felt fine. Although each one was horrifying and exuded a mind-bending aura, they didn’t send me insane, when I suddenly recovered some repressed memory/quote from my training with The Professor.

“Maxwell, you’ll probably forget this, but remember (The Most Self-Contradicting Line In History). No matter what being you see after this, no being’s face will be able to send you insane. And it’s not due to my face being ugly, but rather the amount of power each atom of it contains.”

And it was at that moment I saw Azathoth step forward, still blacked-out, yet not shrouded in the fog that The Professor is almost constantly shrouded in.

{Amazing. You have sanity lingering in your eyes. Then, let me ask you one last time, Maxwell. Are you sure that you wish to see my true form? Because all these forms you’ve seen are in comparable to me. Are you sure you wish to proceed? If you want, you can leave with the stories of these other beings, you don’t need my story. You’ve already worked hard enough.}

{No, s-sir. I must leave with your story. I f-firmly believe in the thought of treating others as you w-would yourself, and I’m sure I’d like people to listen to me and remember what I’ve told them. S-So I must leave with your story.}

{... Thank you, Maxwell, thank you. I owe you a big favor… Then here we go.}

Azathoth slowly began revealing himself, and what I saw pushed me to the edge. If I were to add up the horror I felt from every outer being here and put them against Azathoth, it would be like stacking a proton against a universe. That’s the sheer horror I felt from Azathoth. I felt my grip loosening as I felt blood flowing up my throat. I swallowed it down to not worry Azathoth and continued watching as Azathoth’s true form was finally revealed, and yet, what met my eyes was surprising. Azathoth was the only one who had the True Form of a human, only that his eyes were empty with green lights within. And yet, I felt that I was going insane. I was losing it. I began laughing insanely, as the beings looked on in worry. I kept laughing, when I felt the array in my mind activate. Abruptly, I stopped laughing and looked at Azathoth, regain composure.

{D-Done.}

{H-How d- Haha! Amazing. Maxwell, you’ve succeeded. Well, let get you going back..}

{Oh, okay. Well, good bye.}

{Oh, but wait. One sec.}

Azathoth gave me a hug, when he whispered something into my ear.

{Þƒȣƒʈħ æħʧɟʈþ æħƙƒħŋ.}

I couldn’t understand what he’d said, but I knew that it was some type of Clopthog.

{Decipher this, Maxwell. It’s Divine Clopthog. It’s stronger than Clopthog}

That was the last thing Azathoth said before everything faded to black.

(To Be Continued…)