“You pass.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You were looking to get access to the last two floors, right? You’ve passed. Come along, I’ll update your card.”

Being told that, he finally had the confirmation he’d been waiting for when she first came to question him like so many others had, yet picking at his sacrilege in a way only Yuzu and Elvat had before. The woman before him was obviously a tier three skill holder in his eyes, and had just confirmed that she was the same one he’d been waiting to test him as she gave the good news.

“So you're the head of this place?”

“The one and only. I’m Killi, we can talk a bit more once we get you sorted.”

Having his suspicions confirmed made sense of why her questions had managed to be more interesting than so many others he’d dealt with, not to mention how she’d had thought to ask about the gates. She must have looked over the plans he’d submitted and actually had a reasonably deep knowledge of what was on each floor, but none of that mattered to him compared to the most important thing of all.

Another tier three skill holder! And she wants to talk more a bit after, she wouldn’t mind me taking a peek, right? I’m sure this will be fine.

He hadn’t bothered reading her mind during their little exchange but connected to her as they walked to take a look at her skills, finding the one that made her what she was immediately.

Embodiment of knowledge. A tier three knowledge skill. Oh my god, I’m so jealous. Of course, who knows, I might not be that far off myself.

He’d already made it to the fourth level of his own awakened knowledge skill, the sheer volume of information he was forcing into his head making it an inevitability. He’d been spending the days he had been waiting for his test learning as much as he could, and it seemed it was paying off in a big way, with it becoming his second highest skill in the short time since it had awakened, with the speed it would continue to grow depending on the range of information he received.

Helori had already told him that at the rate he was reading at, it was actually leveling rather slowly, a result of the topic not being broad enough as his level grew. Right now he was learning about magic at a depth he never had in the past, but the knowledge skill covered all information, not just the narrow slice he was currently digging into.

Which means I really should try and find out wherever all of the books from craftsman’s tower are being stored, and maybe I should read up on some other topics I don’t know much about either. And if I ever get around to decoding the archive then that’s sure to help. Actually, on the topic of language, I feel like learning another one of those ridiculous so-called languages Myriad's people would use to communicate would probably be insane enough to raise my level. Mmh… No, not worth it.

Besides, as handy as his knowledge skill was, it wasn’t something he considered one of his core ones. That right was reserved for all of his awakened crafting-type skills, along with unnatural mind. Those were the abilities that made him who he was, and they were the ones most worth developing.

Of course, having said that, I’m still definitely asking how she awakened her knowledge skill if I get the chance. I absolutely want the bonuses to my attributes and lifespan that getting a third-tier skill would give me.

He let his thoughts wander some more as he went along with Killi, seeing her add the new mark to his card as the other surrounding librarians congratulated him before she again led him, taking him up each floor.

“So as I’m sure you know the first floor deals with the more common tier one magics, along with related information that isn’t necessarily magical in nature, all of which is found on not only this floor, but the surrounding buildings as well. Of course, those other buildings also contain information that is more related to some of the other floors we’ll pass, but was deemed less relevant and therefore not kept in the main building. The second floor is where things get a bit more exciting if I do say so myself, with the information leaning to how different branches of magic can join to create different results. Floor three continues the trend, though it starts getting works on awakened magics too, not that I need to tell you that. Am I correct in believing you read through that entire one?”

“Ah, yeah, but I was able to learn a lot.”

He’d only finished it because his thought speed skill kept rising to greater heights, with him having gained yet another level just the day before, right before he went down a floor for more reading. When he used it it already felt like nothing in the world was really moving if he wasn’t paying close attention, only the pages he was forcing to turn, needing to use tighter and tighter bits of mana to be sure he wouldn’t use up his supply and pass out from exhaustion.

But all of that was already proving its worth. He’d need to read up on all of the findings his research organization had managed to pull while examining the summoning spell, but he was sure he was already making connections that could be relevant to that massive project.

Of course, I’ve also found plenty of contradicting info in all of that. He thought with a sigh. Makes sense, I’m not sure if the mage’s guild even has anything like a peer review process. Maybe something else to try and introduce to the world in the future. For now, I’ll just try and keep track of what’s blatantly wrong and move from there.

Killi continued as some of his minds focused on those thoughts, until they finally made it to the fourth floor, so clearly smaller than the others due to the building's slanted walls, yet containing some of the most valuable information if it was to be believed.

“And here we get to the most valuable books on awakened magics, along with some other topics. Theories on spell crafting and mana in general, observations about the world that seem magical in nature but haven’t been confirmed, and ideas that there’s currently no way to test, even if by all measures we believe they are accurate. In short, largely theory in the hopes of inspiring beyond what is currently possible.”

Interesting, there could be a few neat things up here. Then that just leaves the last.

Undoubtedly the one he was most excited for of every one he was allowed access to. The fifth floor of the library and whatever secrets it might contain, with Killi looking just as excited despite how often she’d surely been there.

It was the smallest section of all, having far less than he would have expected given the size of the place, only a few shelves and plenty of reading space, with tables and couches of all sizes for people to make use of as they worked. At least that was what it seemed like it should have been for, but it was essentially empty. He could see one person working away off to the side, their back to them, but that was the end of it.

His eyes lingered on the man, feeling his sacrilege call to him but suppressed it. As instantly curious as it made him, he wasn’t there to bother anyone with their studies.

At least not till I’m done with Killi, maybe I’ll try and catch the guy if it looks like he’s leaving later. Still, I guess there aren’t enough people who make it up here for it to be crowded. God, I can feel myself getting more and more excited here.

“So that brings us to the top. The crown jewel of our library. You will find books on two topics here. The signature spells of famous mages throughout history, written by themselves as they’ve been developed into something wholly their own in the hopes that future generations would continue refining them or else be inspired by them. Well, realistically a lot of them are here as a way for the mages who made them to brag and act as a challenge for others, but we’ll take the more optimistic idea of these, shall we?”

“Ha, sure. And the other topic?”

“As much as it might surprise you, not strictly magical at all. Here we have a record of every third-tier skill to have ever existed in the world, written either by the skill holders themselves, or else records gathered from those who observed them. Of course, given how the gods try to ensure the world always has a soul mage, you could easily consider this floor to be a record of soul magic and the spells it can be used for as well. A few of the cases alone are specifically on the topic, but that isn’t really the main purpose of the floor. Oh, and there’s also information on some changes and options different third-tier skill holders have gained after reaching such a point. Every now and then you’ll see one giving more bonuses to an attribute than it should, and we also have information on some of the jobs that would be unlocked when getting to that level.”

He felt himself drooling just thinking about it. Some of the rarest knowledge in the world at his fingertips, just waiting to be dug through. If he insisted on reading at his maximum capacity like he had on the third floor then he’d be out in minutes, but he wanted to savour everything he read there, taking each bit in.

I’ll at least spend two hours here.

He and his homunculi were already starting to make their way over without him giving any conscious thought to the act, only stopping as Killi cleared her throat.

“Ah, sorry, you said you wanted to talk, right? My bad.”

“Ha, don’t worry, I understand the feeling. I can arrange another time with you if you’d prefer?”

“No, no, please, now works perfectly fine by me.”

He now had permanent access to the floor, but that wasn’t true of the third-tier skill holder running the place. He would be a fool to miss out on picking her brain while he had the chance.

“Excellent. In that case, I do believe I spy my student up here as well, why don’t introduce you, I’m sure it would be a valuable meeting for you both.”

She was already leading him to the only occupied table before he agreed, not that he minded. If it was a chance to deepen his connection with her, hopefully opening the door to exchanging more words in the future, then he would take it, it was as simple as that.

It was clear the two weren’t of the same species, Killi being a member of a four-armed race, while the one with their head buried in a book, not even seeing the two of them standing in front of him, looking significantly more human, basically a perfect match for his own kind if it weren’t for the fact that both his hair and eyes were a bright pink colour, rousing his memories.

I’ve seen a couple of his species recently. I definitely helped a few of them raise their levels through forcing materialization, but beyond that, both he and Killi really are scratching at my sacrilege the exact same way. He really might be…

He didn’t get the chance to complete the thought before Killi lightly tapped the young man’s head, making him jump despite the small touch as his bright eyes moved to focus on the two of them standing before him, along with the four of Ben’s homunculi.

“Verbum, I’m glad I caught you here, this is-”

Her words were cut off as Verbum’s eyes took on a look of deep terror, a scream erupting from his throat as he launched himself from his seat, throwing himself down the stairs with no regard for his safety as the two of them were left wondering just what the hell had happened to get a reaction like that.