As such, anyone who was smart enough would be left to wonder exactly how this deity managed to maintain the utility of his restricted library. Just like the normal knowledge below, if one person could swallow it all, the Great Library's overall value would drop.
Someone could easily create a competitor library that didn't lose out to him, stifling his flow of power. So, despite allowing all books within to be read or scanned freely on the surface, what secret measures had God Krona taken?
That was the crucial question.
From the deity's actions as well as the bystanders, it was clear that there was more to it than met the eye.
As such, Darius simply nodded and responded still politely. "I wonder what Great God Krona wants to say?"
Krona folded his arms and smiled with amusement. "I have a deal for you. In exchange for all of the information you hold of the same type, I will grant you total, free and permanent access to all my information in perpetuity. No matter what new information I gain in the future, you will have the right to browse through it."
The onlookers were shocked, wondering just what kind of information Darius had shared with Krona for the God to spit out his greatest benefit so easily. Many also had looks of envy, wishing they could be the ones to make such a lucrative deal.
Of course, the deal was only lucrative on the surface for two reasons, they didn't know the kind of information he shared with Krona and they thought Darius absolutely needed the information for various purposes like them.
However, Darius' mercantile instincts were about to explode, for he had never been presented with a worse deal than the one stipulated.
Alright, to put it into perspective, here's what God Krona would be getting: A Divine Power increase, which was hard to put into accurate numbers, 5 categories of knowledge that could change the entire landscape of Faust, not to mention the ability to profit off them by using the same method to attract new info from future visitors, who would all be interested in acquiring it.
What God Krona had to give up - in comparison - was access to knowledge that had little meaning to him personally.
What Darius gained was all the current and future knowledge of the entire library, which he hardly needed since his single transaction alone gave him enough time to do what he needed.
What he gave up though? Information that was unseen in the entire Faust, information that could help him establish an unparalleled power in Faust, and information that was crucial to God Krona.
It was clear who was gaining more. Darius would have to be utterly braindead to agree to such a thing, so he simply smiled and rejected the offer straightforwardly.
"I decline, Your Holiness. I have strategic use for this information and have no intentions to share it."
God Krona frowned when he understood the hidden meaning in Darius' words. Then he sighed and walked back into the beam of light that still flowed down without further ado.
He nodded towards Darius stoically. "If you ever change your mind, call my name anywhere on Elysium. I shall descend to transact with you."
Darius also bowed, surprised by the magnanimity and sharpness of the God of Knowledge. Instead of foolishly making an enemy of Darius or pining after the information regardless, he understood Darius' hidden meaning which essentially said 'the only way I'd give you this info is if it has no more use to me'.
Darius was wrong to be surprised though. Gods didn't just wake up and arrogantly smacked down mortals while calling it Divine Fury in Faust.
If anything, they would get their paladins or churches to do something like that, which was why they even bothered to create those institutions.
Besides, God Krona was in no rush.
One of the hidden traps in his deal was the 'permanent access'. One would think such a thing was great, but the fact was that God Krona would live eternally while a mortal like Darius had a fixed lifespan.
Like that, Darius would eventually utilize his information however he wanted until it had little use to him exclusively. Then, he would come to God Krona to trade it for whatever he needed at the time.
God Krona was patient and long-lived, which was a trait of being attributed with Knowledge.
Darius shook his head and retrieved his membership card from the golden-blue terminal. He ignored the flabbergasted looks from the other fellows who thought he was crazy for declining such an offer.
Darius didn't think they were stupid, just ignorant. Upon being furnished with all the facts, they would do the same as him, or even worse.
Darius pushed the door to the Restricted Section open and noticed that a timer appeared on his membership card that would likely reduce over time. He ignored it and gazed at the small chamber before him in confusion.
There were 5 doors before him, each with a large metal nameplate placed on them. From the left to right, they read the names of one of each of the 5 categories.
Beside each door sat a person with a small desk that were doing different things like reading, writing, or even playing. When they saw Darius enter, they raised their heads at once and lowered them again.
This left Darius curious as to their occupation, but he had some guesses. For now, Darius walked up to the 'Magical' door to begin collecting information from there.
The one seated here was a young woman with auburn hair and red lips that wore a yellow robe. She boredly looked up at Darius and stretched out her hand.
"Card or token."
Darius handed her his membership card. She slotted it into a device and folded her arms lazily, speaking slowly.
"When your time is up, you'll be automatically ejected from the room. You're free to assimilate as much as you want, but don't complain when you can't do anything as well. It all depends on your own abil-."
However, her words got stuck in her throat like someone had choked her when she saw the number of hours Darius had.
