This was the only recorded instance of an all-out war between the material world and shadow creatures. Though the imnse passage of ti has erased the specific details, the sheer horror of it can still be felt through the mottled pages of history.
Afterward, the page from the Book of All Things, now infected by the power of the shadow realm, was carried out of the material world by a terrifying creature whose na was never recorded. The limited records that exist describe it only as a cat-like monster.
The monster absorbed most of the page’s power, then cast the artifact's physical form and the dregs of its remaining energy back into the material world. This occurred during the 14th Epoch. This ti, the page was found by a boy with the surna Kotte. He would later unite the humans of the material world, a rare feat in an epoch defined by chaos and war.
But King Kotte died suddenly at the age of forty-seven, and along with him, every person within three generations of his bloodline perished.
The Church of Knowledge and Books of that era discovered the page and determined that its properties as a Cursed Item had not been eliminated.
This new containnt effort began in the 14th Epoch and lasted until the previous one. The records Jenkins had reviewed stated that because the page from the Book of All Things had been suppressed beneath the Holy See for so long, it beca infused with the power of the Sage's believers. This was why the Book of the Heart showed a distinct affinity for followers of the Sage.
Many things happened during the 17th Epoch. During an expansion of the Church headquarters in Bel Diran, the page unexpectedly escaped. But by the ti it was discovered again, it had completely lost its Cursed Item characteristics.
It was now the "book within books," the "book that provides all knowledge." Anyone who could touch this page could receive enlightennt from it.
In other words, Jenkins’s encounter with this object was not a stroke of bad luck—it was a sign that his good fortune had arrived.
The frozen magazine was now the vessel for the Book of the Heart, but to receive its enlightennt, one had to touch the book’s true form. Jenkins certainly couldn't do that in such a public place. Sucking in a sharp breath against the cold, he stuffed the "ice slab" under his clothes. He then flipped through a copy of *Tropical Disease dical Forefront* to confirm that the Corpse Gentleman’s gathering was scheduled for the day after tomorrow—Tuesday night.
He then paid for a few magazines he had grabbed at random, adding a little extra to the total to cover the cost of *Delicious Fish: A Lund Island Cookbook* tucked away inside his shirt. The last thing Jenkins wanted was to be mistaken for a thief.
As he left, the middle-aged man in the uniform who had been reading *The Biography of the Detective Knight* gave Jenkins a very peculiar look.
Jenkins assud it was because he had insisted on paying an extra eight shillings, but the truth was that among the magazines he’d purchased was one titled *The Art of Successful Socializing—How to Handle Relationships with Different Girls*.
He had originally planned to take a stroll down Maidenhaven Road to get a distant glimpse of the Williams family ho, but now that he had found the Book of the Heart, his plan to visit ho would have to be postponed.
After leaving the post office, he ducked into a nearby alley to change his appearance once more. He wandered around the area for a bit, then used one of the black market's various exits to erge in the western part of the city. With practiced ease, he hopped the fence behind the house, slipped into the yard, avoided Mrs. Goodman, who was tending to her garden on the other side, and returned to his ho on St. George Street through the back door.
He stashed the magazines in the basent to avoid leaving any sign that he had been back. After rummaging through a few cardboard boxes, he pulled out an entire roll of parchnt. After a mont's thought, he took a pair of scissors and cut off a piece about a foot long. Then, while lting the "ice slab," he carefully laid the parchnt over it.
Gradually, the aura on the cookbook began to transfer to the blank parchnt. As the fire completely lted the ice, while managing to keep both the magazine and the parchnt perfectly dry, all of the blue spiritual light shifted onto the sheepskin.
In the dimly lit basent, it emitted a soft, faint glow, like stardust scattered from the night sky. Jenkins slowly released his hands, allowing the slightly curled parchnt to float into the air.
It turned to face him, slowly unrolling itself. Intricate, classical filigree blood along the edges, giving the new parchnt an ancient, weathered appearance.
"Hello. What would you like to know?"
A single line of text appeared in the blank space. Jenkins wasn't surprised; the records had described this exact phenonon.
"So, is this just a non-sentient, automated search function, or has the Book of the Heart actually developed a soul?"
Jenkins was quite curious, but he knew it wasn't worth wasting a precious opportunity on such a question.
The Book of the Heart possessed a fraction of the power of the Book of All Things, and that legendary Bestowal was said to contain all knowledge of the "past," "present," and "future." Since the Book of the Heart had inherited a portion of the knowledge of the "past," Jenkins could use it to uncover his family's secrets or learn more about the entity sealed beneath Nolan.
"So, to what extent can you help ?" he asked.
The Book of the Heart offered enlightennt, but the quantity and quality of its answers were uncertain, varying from person to person. However, Jenkins didn't have to worry about receiving a subpar response; he was a believer of the Sage, and the Book of the Heart showed preferential treatnt to the Sage’s followers.
"I cannot help you."
"Hmm?"
For a split second, Jenkins thought his cover as a false believer had been blown.
"Why? I don't think I've broken any of your rules, and I made contact with you through my own power," he asked the page before him. If it weren't for the fact that the parchnt was floating, the act of talking to it would have seed utterly foolish.
"Your query is too esoteric. I do not possess all of the 'past,' so I cannot answer your question."
Of course, Jenkins didn't buy it. Besides his divine senses screaming that this was a lie, every single numbered creature or item he had ever been able to communicate with had acted mysterious, putting on an "I know, but I can't tell you" act. There was no way this page would claim ignorance without even hearing his question first.
"So, it's another one of those 'I know, but I can't say' situations! This page is trying to deceive , the God of Lies, out of fear! This is definitely not an automated response. This page has developed its own soul!"
As the thought crossed his mind, he suddenly reached out and poked the paper floating in front of him. It flinched backward violently, and a new line of text appeared on its surface:
"What do you want to do?"
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