The air around the archive was still, almost like the presence of the Archive was so imnse to the point that the air around it had no choice but to remain still.
But this was just an illusion of the mind. An image that the average mind would concur if they stood in front of the Archive.
The red stars overhead flickered faintly as Corey stepped onto the cracked stone platform in front of the library-like structure.
It was tall. Towering. And Ancient.
The closer Corey got to the Archive, the more his Void Phoenix Senses perceived the aura of ti and space from the Archive.
Corey stopped before the entrance with furrowed brows.
’The energy of space and ti is high around this building. If I was sobody with space affinity or ti affinity and not the powers of the void, I would have absorbed the spatial and temporal energy around here.’
Corey looked up, and his gaze fell on the vines wrapped around the entire building that shifted faintly in the wind.
’I wonder what I’ll find in the building.’
His eyes flashed with a white light, and Corey scanned his surroundings with his Eyes of Omniscience, making sure that there were no traps or formations that could harm him.
He saw the remnants of so powerful defensive and offensive formations, but every single one of them was shattered.
He reached forward and pushed the heavy blackwood door open.
It didn’t creak or groan for a door that was massive and old.
It simply opened.
And what lay behind it made Corey pause.
Rows. Stacks. Pillars of books.
Scrolls floated in stasis. So books glowed. Others were locked in chains.
The Archive was vast.
Much larger than it appeared on the outside, and Corey could instantly sense and see the powers of both space and ti that not only preserved these books and the internal structure for- from what he could sense through his Void Phoenix powers- tens of thousands of years.
Shelves extended hundreds of ters above and beside him. Spiral staircases twisted through floating floors, and ladders that were anchored to nothing hung in midair.
The interior was dim, and it was lit only by faint green unmoving lanterns that hovered.
"Amazing." Corey could not help but comnt in awe. One would think that it was the sight of the books, designs, magic, and architecture that stunned Corey.
But it was not any of these in the slightest.
No.
It was the silence that stunned Corey.
This was not silence like what was outside.
To Corey, this silence felt heavy.
Extrely heavy.
Almost like the knowledge in the Archive had weight... Imnse weight.
Like thousands of years of thoughts had been pressed into the walls and compressed into soundless stone.
"Incredible," Corey muttered once again as his foot tapped onto the first stair that led into the central floor. "The amount of knowledge in this place is far greater than the three libraries of the Underworld."
Corey could feel it.
The urge of his Stars of Consciousness and even his Cosmic Soul to devour every single knowledge that was before him.
He wanted everything.
He wanted more.
More knowledge.
Corey’s eyes released a bright white glow as his Eyes of Omniscience beca more focused on the Archive.
He breathed in, then breathed out.
Wind runes ford around him. Thin and sharp, but gentle and controlled.
He raised his hand, and a silent torrent of wind surged from his body, sweeping outward.
Every book. Every scroll. Every to. Every parchnt. Every source of knowledge.
They ca flying.
But they didn’t clash.
Didn’t scatter.
Corey controlled the winds so they hovered in suspension around him, spiralling in different layers like orbiting moons.
He activated his Eyes of Omniscience, and every book was opened to him and every title was laid bare before him.
There were tens of thousands of books in front of him, but with his Eyes of Omniscience, Stars of Consciousness, and Cosmic Soul, he was able to process every single book he glanced upon.
The language of the books were different from any language he had ever encountered, but he was able to instantly decipher and understand what he was reading.
Almost like he had been reading such books from the mont he was born.
He began sorting.
Martial arts. Cultivation manuals. Magic Theory. Military tactics. Political structures. Historical chronicles. Philosophical debates. Religious docunts. Economic models. Educational texts. Cultural logs.
He saw several books, and so of the books were:
Martial Arts Manuals: Serpent’s Bone Fist, Six Thousand Palm Shadows, Heavenly Spear Thrust.
Cultivation Manuals: Nine Soul Harmony Scroll, Scripture of the One-Eyed Serpent, Phantom Spine Technique.
Political Philosophy:Treatise of Iron Crowns, Sovereigns and Saboteurs.
Education & Sciences: Arcane Arithtic Vol. 7, Anatomy of Beasts and Races, Botany.
Military History: Siege of Hallowspire, Dreadnought Campaigns of the West, The Thousand-Year Pyre.
Magical Studies: Necromantic Seals, Chronomancy: Volu One, Void Formations.
Financial Systems: Trade in the Era of Dust, Coins and Crowns: An Economic Analysis.
Cultural Records: Songs of the Eastward Vale, Festivals of Light.
City Records and Urban Layouts: Atlas of Virendell, Maps of the Empire.
----
’The na of the city is Virendell.’
Just as Corey had this thought, his eyes stopped at a thick red-bound ti. He grabbed it and began to read.
’Chronicles of Virendell- The Crown of the West.’
’Virendell... Also called the City of Enlightennt. It was built during the Third Age of Stars, and its towers were carved by stoneweavers. Its streets were lined with mana-guided lanterns, and magic and science were intertwined in perfect union. The city’s peak lasted four hundred and twelve years. The...’
A few minutes later, he pulled another book from the wind.
’The Eternal Accord of the Three Cities.’
’In the 142nd year of the Fourth Age, Virendell signed the Eternal Accord with Ashkarra and the Valley City of Nul. The three cities pledged protection, resource sharing, and unrestricted exchange of arcane and scholastic knowledge. Together, they resisted the invasion of the Corpseborne Tide and established the Great Seal to prevent cross-dinsional contamination.’
’On the...’
So minutes later, he took another.
’House Yurein: Rise and Fall’
’The ruling family of Virendell. They were called Visionaries, but so called them madn.’
’Under Archimage Kael Yurein, a rift was opened to the Plane of Decay. Initially studied for its rare energy fields and unique Necromantic properties. But control was lost.’
’Creatures seeped through. Minds shattered, and the rift wars began.’
Page after page, Corey continued reading till he was done and took another book.
’The Dimming Fla: An Account of Virendell’s Decline.’
’The city held for thousands of years. Barriers were reinforced and transford to combat the monsters of decay. Streets were rebuilt after every battle. But every victory was a hollow one.’
’Mana beca sothing else entirely. Technology failed, and madness whispered in the winds.’
’Then the Crimson Sky arrived at the end of the Fifth Age... and the stars turned red.’
Corey read in silence for a few more minutes and flipped through pages faster than any scholar could manage.
Then he stopped.
Three seconds later, a small leather-bound book floated into his palm.
He opened it.
’Fragnts of the Hollow Creed.’
’There ca those who rejoiced in decay and death. They whispered to the dead. Danced with the rot. Worshipped the silence of graves. They called themselves the Hollow Creed. They were not born of our world, Thalanor ... but of another world... They were invaders.’
’They were all mad.’
’They did not fight in the Rift Wars. They just watched. Hid. And waited.’
’And when the first Archmage scread and fell into madness, they ca forward. Smiling.’
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