Azathoth reached out and tapped my forehead, sending me flying out of the book…

I landed in the chair and fell over, landing flat on my back,

“-oof!”

I got up and put the chair back up. I grabbed the book again, trying to see if the hole was still there, but there was nothing but a blank page. I felt a bit sad that I would never see those guys ever again, but I decided to put the book back onto the shelf and moved on. I then looked at the other book written by that man, Orshleck O. Olmes, called The Unknowns. I grabbed the book, feeling a mysterious presence being exuded from this book, rather than the oppressive aura I felt from the book earlier (before I entered it). I was going to open the door when I heard a knock on the stone door before someone entered.

It was Mr. Sjorn.

He was holding two large plates with metal covers (Don’t ask me how he opened the door). He placed one in front of me and the other in front of him.

“I wanted to eat dinner with you, as I haven’t had much of a chance to sit down with you.”

“Oh, t-thank you, sir.”

“Of course. I brought you some fresh lamb with rice and some refreshing apple pie.”

“T-Thank you very much, s-sir.”

And so, we began eating. The lamb was still on the bone, but just barely. The rice was delicious, spicy, yet refreshing. Overall, it was delicious. I decided to leave the pie till last, that way I could read while eating, although I didn’t expect that Mrs. Culder would pack me two pies and only a slice for Mr. Sjorn. In fact, Mr. Sjorn seemed to be eyeing the pies a lot.

“Ahem, Maxwell.”

“Yes, s-sir?”

“Are you going to eat those pies all by yourself?”

“...No?”

“Good. Then, um, could I borrow some?”

“...”

“Please?”

“...Uh, Yes, s-sure.”

I cut Mr. Sjorn half of the pie, which he eyed like how a starved tiger eyes his dinner. I gave him the half slice and watched him as he walked off grinning. I had no idea Mr. Sjorn had this side.

I brought the pie and a half over to the desk and placed them to my right. I then grabbed the book I had earlier and opened it, revealing a hole leading to a world of indescribable creatures. I fell into the book pretty quickly. After falling for a few seconds, I felt my body come to a stop mid-air. I looked around, observing my surroundings when I noticed a small glowing figure.

“Hello!”

“H-Hello.”

“I’m Sefiel!”

“I-I’m Maxwell.”

“Nice to meet you!”

“Uhm, nice t-to meet you too?”

“You’re probably wondering where you are, right? I’ll tell you, come. Quickly!”

Sefiel grabbed my hand and pulled me along. We arrived before a big museum, with big creatures inside. I paused for a moment, before I was pulled by Sefiel again.

“Come inside! I have to show you this!”

We entered the museum hall, which had real-life depictions of multiple fog-like creatures.

“This is what I must show you! These are the Unknowns.”

“W-What are they?”

“They are horrifying creatures, said to be byproducts of whatever bits of the void were left behind when the universe was created.”

“And w-why do you have to show me them?”

“Because they’re going to awaken soon!”

“What’s so bad a-about that?”

“Oh, right. I forgot to mention that they are ruthless colonizers, as they feel that since the universe came from the void, they should be the universe’s rightful leaders. And they’re very strong, strong enough to rip apart planets!”

“W-Why’re you telling me this? Why n-not tell my brother?”

“Well, you’re the only one who entered this book, so I have to make do!”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I’m also telling you this because I believe you can defeat the Unknowns! I can tell just by looking at you, but you have an ability similar to the Outer Beings”

“I see…”

“Ah, I almost forgot. I also have to classify them for you! Here we go!”

(Summary of The Unknowns)

The Unknowns are beings originating from remaining void chunks that have taken on something called different Celestial Species, and these species are named after Celestial bodies. The species, listed from weakest to strongest, are planets, stars, galaxies, clusters, supernovas, black holes, universes. Each has three sub-levels (lesser, normal, greater), except for planets (which are split into 4 sub-levels; Lesser, Mediocre, Normal, Greater),and anything beyond supernovas (which aren’t split into any sub-levels). The power in each level doesn’t multiply, but rather exponentially grows. Also, their level doesn’t impact their size, only their power. They are dangerous and come in many different shapes and forms. That is all that is known about the Unknowns.

“W-Whoa, that’s a lot t-to take in all at once, Sefiel.”

“I know, right? But He made me tell you all that anyways.”

“Who?”

“Nobody! Nope, no one.”

“Okay…”

“Well, Maxwell, I should tell you one last thing.”

“W-What is it?”

“Well, I just wanted to explain how these books you’ve been reading work.”

“Wait, h-how did you know t-that?”

“Ah, well, how else would you have come inside here?”

“Ah, right.”

“So, I just wanted to tell you, since I’m also obsessed with these books, how these books work.”

“O-Okay.”

“Well, let’s start off simple. These books, you probably wonder how they came to be, right?”

“Well, yes.”

“Okay. You see, these books are actually books that have transformed from what they originally were. For example, this book used to be called The Discovery of Unknown Things, a book that discussed new discoveries in your world, but somehow, through a yet unknown process, this book gained power and transformed into what you see in that library. And the most interesting thing is that these books only gain this power through the power of words written in them. Also, for some reason, when someone enters one of these books, when they exit, the book becomes blank and loses its power. So nobody can read the same book twice, understood?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Well, that’s all you could learn from this book. Goodbye!”

“G-Goodbye.”

And then I was flung out of the book… with excessive force.

I landed on the ground this time, completely flying over the chair. I landed on the ground with a loud thud. I got up and tried to stand up straight, but always fell over. I was very dizzy, so I shook my head violently, which only made things worse, but then everything went back to normal. I stood up straight and looked around for the book, which was on the desk. I grabbed the book and placed it back on the shelf. I began walking amongst the shelves, looking at each section and what it contained. I realized that each book discussed every topic we knew to date, only that each book had its own consciousness. I then remembered that I had that major test that Mr. Sjorn told me I had to take, and so I began looking at the books very differently.

“M-My only hope…”

These were the final last words I had uttered before grabbing every basic book on topics ranging from history to art to physics to science. They began to pile up quickly in my arm, so I began taking them over in stacks and returning to get more, and then, when I finished collecting all the basic books, I organized them into their subjects. This process took a very strenuous 3 hours. In fact, I was so tired by the end of it, I was barely able to stay awake. I sat down at the desk and went to pick up a book, but I felt too tired. I decided to wrap the pies I had left in cloth and placed them at the side of the desk. I then left the Stone Section (the new name I came up with for this section of the library, since it was blocked off by a stone door), which caused the Stone doors to close shut. I then left the entire library and began walking around the manor.

It was nighttime and quite peaceful, which only added to my sleepiness. Mr. Sjorn’s manor had a very nice quality in that it didn’t use windows, but barries, which allowed the wind in. The manor also had a lot of “windows”, so it was quite windy. As I was walking, I felt the wind playing around with my tie and the edges of my long suit. I continued to walk with my hands in my pockets, enjoying the beautiful 9 moons which lit up the sky, colored Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Cyan, White, Gray, and Black from smallest to biggest. It was indeed the most beautiful thing to see. I continued walking, feeling the fresh air circulate in my lungs and mind. I was about to go up to the rooms when I heard the sound of heavy breathing coming from the training court. I walked out to the court and saw James, my brother, sweating buckets, breathing heavily, and on one knee, grasping the hilt of his sword. I walked up to him and placed my hand on his shoulder.

“James, a-are you alright?”

“Oh, Maxwell. It’s you.”

“Of course it’s me. I-I was about to go t-to sleep and heard someone training in the c-courtyard.”

“… I must get stronger, Maxwell. I’m too weak.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“You don’t know this, but we’ve finished our training. Now we’re allowed to go freely explore wherever we want to complete quests.”

“Oh, t-that’s great!”

“It was. It was all good… until I met that thing. It was a horrible creature beyond my imagination.”

“What creature was it?”

“It was a type of dragon monster called an Amok. It killed my entire party and ate them whole in front of me while I cowered in a cave in fear. I-I couldn’t do anything. If only I had been stronger, I… I could’ve beaten it.”

“I see…”

“Maxwell, I don’t know if I can do adventuring anymore.”

“I u-understand, but it’s great you’ve learned.”

“W-What do you mean by that?”

“J-James, think of other adventurers. A lot have e-experienced the same thing as you had. Some of those p-people had left the adventuring career, never to r-return. Then there w-were those few, who saw the same thing you had, experienced the same fear, a-and yet they didn’t leave. Instead, they did what y-you had done. They grabbed their swords and went to their training fields, trying to get stronger. T-They didn’t give up, because even though they did their best, they knew that t-their best wasn’t enough. They weren’t h-happy with where they were, and so because of that, their swords have slain t-thousands of evil beasts and saved millions of innocent people. A-And you’re walking their very path, meaning that, one day, James, your sword will hopefully slay thousands of cruel beasts and save m-millions of innocent lives, James. Or at the very least, your s-sword will contain the will to do so. And that m-makes me proud of you James. A-And always remember, James. Never be content with your current level, because there will a-always be a level above you.”

“W-Wow, Maxwell. You’ve gotten m-much smarter, haven’t you?”

“O-Oh, I guess I have.”

“T-Thank you, Hyung.”

James looked up at me, and on his face, reflecting the moons’ light, were tears.

“I love you, Hyung-nim.”

After that, James gave me a hug and continued to cry, while I just patted his back. After consoling James, I walked upstairs and cleaned my suit. I felt much better after consoling James, feeling happy to help. I walked into my room, tired still. I hung my suit and top hat and snapped my finger, changing my outfit into pajamas. I then threw myself into bed and went to sleep, feeling the relaxing sensation of just taking a break crawl into every essence of my being. In my dreams, I dreamt of going on an adventure and having a picnic with my brother. It was, needless to say, one of the best dreams I had ever had. I woke up feeling refreshed. I decided to go down and eat breakfast with the rest of the family. I washed up and made sure I was wearing suitable clothing for the occasion by simply snapping my fingers (I will never forget this favor, enchantress-dragon-lady-empress). I went to James’ room first, where I found him barely able to walk out of his room, with huge bags under his eyes.

“G-Good Morning, James.”

“*Yawn*. Good Morning, Maxwell.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Sleep? What’s that again?”

“No i-idea.”

We both laughed, joking around with each other until we reached the dining hall. For a moment, I felt nostalgic, remembering the days we lived in the orphanage. James and I entered the hall at the same time, where everyone was sitting already. There were only two spots left, which were the seats to the left of Mr. Sjorn, while his wife and his kids sat to the right. I was about to sit at the second-last spot when James rushed in front of me and sat in that spot.

“S-Sorry, Maxwell, but could I b-bother you to sit next to Father?”

“Um, of course. What bother could it be?”

And that was when I heard James say, under his breath,

“You’ll find out.”

Just loud enough for me to hear. I sat next to Mr. Sjorn, who looked at me with a smile. Mr. Sjorn gave a quick clap, which qued a line of maids to walk in with trays of food, filled with ranging from scrambled eggs to french toast to caviar butter on toast. They placed the food in front of us and we all began eating. While I was eating, I felt Mr. Sjorn staring at me. Intensely. I turned to face him and saw his eyes glowing at me as he wore a wide smile.

“So, Maxwell, how’re you doing with your studies?”

And it was during that breakfast I learned why nobody sat next to Mr. Sjorn.

I left the hall tired from all the talking we did, Mr. Sjorn and I, although I didn’t mind it much. All he did was make sure I was improving. Although it was tiring, I actually enjoyed talking to him about what I had learned from The Kabbalah, although I made sure to not tell him sensitive information. After taking a nice stretch, I walked up to the Library and went straight to The Stone Section. I placed my hands on the cool stone doors, which opened up and closed shut behind me. I walked over to the desk and began reading a book on a subject I felt I was severely lacking in.

Everything.

And so began my of entering and exiting worlds, accompanied only by the pies Mrs. Culder sent me.

(To Be Continued…)

Hey Guys.

The Introductions Arc, where we introduced our protagonists. Next, we enter the Second Arc, The True Beginnings Arc, where our protagonists’ worlds expand drastically, so begin to expect more world-building like you saw a bit of in this chapter. I will begin releasing some extras as well on the side, such as character descriptions (Revus, you’re still up next) and now “books” from each protagonist’s world that will delve into some extra knowledge about certain topics in the series, as I’ll only be giving you the basic knowledge. So that’s all. See you guys either next week or the week after that (I might take a break).

Sincerely,

The Professor