'Negary' was treading across the dark night road of the Mobis Institute, the dim streetlights didn't really serve to provide much light, instead they invoked a certain sense of unknown fear.
The campus was unusually silent, but this was because it was 3 AM, and almost everyone in the academy was sleeping.
The library had closed with only a security guard sleeping inside his post. The sound of constant footsteps from 'Negary's' new leather shoes slowly woke him up.
Right as the security guard had just opened his eyes, 'Negary' was already standing in front of him and flicked a small bit of powder into the corner of his mouth.
〖 Relax yourself… and listen to me 〗'Negary's' words caused the security guard who was still in a half-asleep state to enter a startling drug-induced trance.
〖 You will ignore all unusual movements around the library. After I leave, you will fall into a dream. In the dream, you will foresee terrible things happening to the Mobis Institute, then become suspicious of tonight's events, which will lead you to look for like-minded comrades during daytime 〗
After saying that, 'Negary' continued talking towards the library. Following 'Negary's' leaving footsteps, the security guard slowly became awake again, his gaze looking towards 'Negary' who was using a metal pick to open the gates of the library, but ignored that fact as if it wasn't anything important. After yawning, he fell back asleep within his security post, dreaming of unfortunate events during his sleep.
'Negary' put his metal pick away. During his time in the Flame world, having absorbed a large number of souls, Negary had already become a grandmaster at lock picking, and since the Mobis Institute's lock wasn't particularly complicated, he easily undid it.
As he entered the library, his spirit sense could clearly sense the changes within the library at night. Not at all above 'Negary's' expectations, the closer it got to 5AM, the more active certain connections hidden within the library became.
He then opened a small box that contained various kinds of powder and liquid, all of them having originated from the Academic City with its abundance of minerals and plant variety.
'Negary' mixed these powder and liquid in a certain order, which finally ended up as a bright red liquid. This serum had the ability to stabilize one's soul, causing the human mind to become stiff and rigid like a machine, letting them ignore most external influences.
As time slowly passed, 'Negary' had already made one full trip around the library. It truly must be said that the books kept within the Mobis Institute were worthy of an educational facility, 'Negary' had even managed to discover quite a bit of useful knowledge to his current human body.
As 5AM approached, Negary completed his preparations. First he lit a small block of coal, allowing the fire to die down while the coal itself glowed from within, then took out the serum he had prepared and drank it all at once.
'Negary's' spirit sense was then able to recognize his surroundings becoming overlapped, a miraculous sensation appeared in 'Negary's' mind, almost as if he was squashed into a thin human-shaped sheet of paper. This state of entering overlapping aspects of reality with the human body gave 'Negary' a completely different experience.
〖 It seems sometimes, standing too high will make it easier to miss certain wonders 〗
This was the last unrelated thought in 'Negary's' mind, after which the serum did its job and turned 'Negary's' thoughts completely rational and mechanical, incapable of any extraneous thoughts.
Once this strange overlapping state had passed, 'Negary' appeared on a certain floor of an unknown building.
The entire building appeared to be a hollow cylinder, while there was a corridor around the outermost ring, the inside was completely empty, with the building being around 100m in diameter. Other than the very edge of the corridor, bookshelves were everywhere, each of them filled to the brim with books.
As 'Negary' approached the railing and looked down, he found that it was essentially bottomless, with every floor below filled with bookshelves and books, and so were the floors above. From the looks of it, 'Negary' was directly transported to a random floor of the Grand Library.
"You may choose one book from this place, remember, only one, follow your heart's desires" an ethereal voice resounded in the air, as 'Negary' turned around, he saw a white-haired little girl in a brown dress.
She was walking barefooted on the wooden floor, using her jet black eyes to stare straight at 'Negary', apparently doubtful about something.
〖 Your name? 〗'Negary' questioned.
"Akasha Allenz" the girl clasped her hands behind her back and answered 'Negary's' question.
〖 Where in the Grand Library am I currently? 〗after the little girl Akasha answered him, 'Negary' asked the next question.
"Floor 368 of the Grand Library's book area" the little girl wasn't angered by 'Negary's' curt language and simply answered his question with her ethereal tone.
〖 Why this place? 〗
"The location was chosen according to your most intense desires; this floor has the book most suitable for that. However, you must search for it on your own, once you've chosen, there is no room for regret" Akasha replied.
〖 Got it 〗'Negary' then directly ignored Akasha and began to search through the books on this floor.
Before entering the Grand Library, 'Negary' had hypnotized himself, using the serum to mechanize his thought process, so when he entered the Grand Library, there was only a single thought in 'Negary's' mind: to look for the origin of life.
"Hm, please be careful, there is a very terrible thing on this floor" 'Negary' didn't ask, but Akasha suddenly told him this just as he turned to leave.
'Negary' didn't put Akasha's words to heart. The way he saw it, Akasha was a crucial part of this library building, most likely something similar to a computer AI who managed this library. She could be considered to be the Great Magus' masterpiece, considering her surname was the same as the Great Magus.
If his conjectures were correct, the Great Magus' problem most likely originated from or was related to Life Bearer, and since the Grand Library's entry method was so closely related to one's own desires, when 'Negary' expressed the desire to learn more about life, he would most likely be brought to the source of the abnormalities.
Entering the Grand Library carried with it a great deal of danger, especially when such desires were displayed so openly; there was a great chance of him simply being caught, then imprisoned and killed.
'Negary' had also prepared himself for this possibility, or rather, this was the entire reason Negary had created this incarnation of himself in the first place, as a kind of probing.
Naturally, according to the original Negary's calculations, there was a 12.3% chance of this 'Negary' incarnation to be either completely safe or only become infected briefly by the abnormality.
'Negary' swiftly went around the entire floor, on this single floor of the Grand Library alone, there were at least over 10,000 books, which was unimaginable in this Moon Tree world with its barren access to knowledge.
It was no wonder so after so many people entered the Grand Library just once, they considered this place to be the house of truth, holding nothing but infinite respect towards it.
However, this place's book collection was mostly unregulated. There were plenty of Grimoires and magical tomes, but there were also books on how to tend and nurture female pigs after breeding season, as well as many 3rd-rate authors with their 4th-rate novels.
In summary, as long as it had been written down, it would be recorded here.
Soon, 'Negary' found the target of his trip to the Grand Library, an ominous book that constantly drifted within his spirit sense.
As 'Negary' saw this book with his own eyes, he felt like he saw a twisted existence appearing behind the book reaching their arms out to embrace him.
'Negary' picked this book up without hesitation.
