The Manager couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had already been surprised that he couldn't glean any information from the book, but it was something completely different if not even the Starlight Queen could do so!
"What should we do, my Lady?" the Manager asked.
The Starlight Queen looked at the book for a while longer. "Tell me where that technique comes from."
The Manager quickly told her everything he had heard from the Supervisor.
"Hmm," the Starlight Queen muttered after hearing everything. "Getting an Ice Lioness from the Ice King's Domain is not an easy feat. It had either been captured by a very weak force that didn't enter the Ice King's eyes or someone above its power."
"Additionally, I believe that the person had disguised themselves, which is why they don't feel familiar," she added.
"My Lady, what if the small warrior that got that book was lying?" the Manager asked.
"No, he wasn't," the Starlight Queen said with confidence.
This confused the Manager a bit.
When the Starlight Queen saw the Manager's confusion, she explained. "Mage Kings have a deeper connection to the world and reality itself. What you have spoken about resonates with reality. There are some obfuscations, but the retelling of the Mage's identity rings true with reality. That's how I know that the warrior didn't lie about the identity of the Mage."
"Thank you for explaining, my Lady," the Manager said respectfully.
The Starlight Queen looked at the book for a bit longer.
"What should we do now?" the Manager asked nervously.
After looking at the book some more, the Starlight Queen sighed.
"I have to ask the Custodian," she said.
The Manager's heart shook.
The Custodian?!
He was a mysterious yet very friendly man. Not much was known about him.
However, he was one of the absolutely most powerful Mage Kings in the entire world.
The legends even said that he could become an Emperor if he chose to.
The Custodian was the second-highest ranking member in the entire Lightning Manor, a power that ruled over about 10% of the entire world!
"You can leave," the Starlight Queen said. "I will inform you on how to proceed."
"Yes, thank you, my Lady," the Manager said before walking out of the office.
The Starlight Queen continued looking at the book for a while, but she just couldn't glean any additional information from it.
That frustrated her quite a bit.
'Did one of the other Emperors personally interfere?' she thought with doubt. 'I don't think so. There was basically no attempt to conceal this Star Map. Additionally, why would an Emperor be interested in creating some more physis in the Fourth Realm? That would have no impact on anything.'
After a while, the Starlight Queen stood up and left the office as well.
She walked past the small corridor and entered a gigantic door.
Now, she was inside a humongous and grand hall with no people inside.
She walked through the hall until she arrived in front of two small doors.
She went to the door on the right and pressed a button.
A small bell rang inside the room behind the small door.
A couple of seconds later, a meticulously dressed man opened the door and looked at the Starlight Queen with a polite smile.
"Good evening, Sarah. How has the year been treating you?" Wester, the butler and Custodian, asked.
"Thank you for asking, sir. This year has been very smooth," The Starlight Queen said.
"Good to hear," Wester said. "Now, what brings you here this evening?"
The Starlight Queen summoned the book and respectfully handed it over.
"This appeared in Area 23, and I can't glean any information about who wrote it from it," she said.
"Oh?" Wester uttered with a bit of amusement. "That's quite rare. You're normally so astute and knowledgeable."
"I'm sorry, sir," the Starlight Queen said.
Wester chuckled a bit. "I'm only joking, Sarah. Don't take it to heart. You're doing an amazing job."
"Thank you, sir," the Starlight Queen said with utter respect.
Wester slowly leafed through the book. It was almost like he was reading it like a common person from a village.
After a while, a small smirk appeared on his face.
"Ah, that explains it," he said. "The aura faded with time."
The Starlight Queen's eyes opened widely. "It faded?! How old is this book?!"
"At least 300,000 years old," Wester said.
"300,000 years?!" the Starlight Queen repeated in shock.
Wester nodded. "At least," Wester repeated. "It might have even come from before the Mage God's time."
The Mage God!
The Mage God was just an ancient legend.
It was said that, in the past, every path was equal in power.
That was, until the Mage God appeared.
The Mage God was the reason why the Mages were as powerful as they were today.
Most Mages that heard the story would only believe it to be some fairy tale. After all, how could physis, Summoners, or whatever have ever reached the power of the Mages? They were all just too weak.
However, the Starlight Queen knew that it was real.
"Your mastery over Time is still something that needs some work, Sarah," Wester said. "By using some of the powers of Time, we can recover the lost aura from the book."
A grey light appeared around the book, but nothing seemed to happen for a while.
But a couple of seconds later, the Starlight Queen noticed that something had appeared on the book.
It was an aura!
After it appeared, she could immediately tell who had created it.
There was a certain tranquility to the aura, but it also hid deep violence. There was arrogance but also a drive to be peaceful and humble.
They were very contradicting traits.
The person's Affinity was definitely Fire, but they also had some mastery over Earth and Water.
She could also tell that the person was at the level of a Mage Lord when they created that technique, far below her current power.
However, there was something very weird about the aura.
It somehow felt very different from all the other auras the Starlight Queen had ever felt.
It felt very alien.
"Oh?" Wester uttered with a bit of positive surprise. "It's a Weapon Master's aura."
"A Weapon Master?" the Starlight Queen asked with confusion.
Wester nodded. "They were one of the most powerful people before the Mage God's time. They focused on fighting with weapons, and they relied heavily on their body's power."
The Starlight Queen's eyes widened in surprise again. "But the power I can feel from the aura on the book rivals the aura of a Mage Lord. Does that mean that…?"
Wester nodded. "Correct," he said as he closed the book. "It comes from a time before the Mage God."
"That means it's, at least, 500,000 years old, right?" she asked in surprise.
Wester nodded. "At least. Could be more."
It was hard for the Starlight Queen to come to grips with that.
500,000 years!
This book was over 500,000 years old!
How did it even stay in one piece for so long?!
"What should we do with it?" the Starlight Queen asked.
"You mean regarding Area 23?" Wester asked.
The Starlight Queen nodded.
"I don't think it's a big problem if we release it to the public," Wester said. "I wouldn't have an issue with it spreading."
"However," Wester added as a small smile appeared on his face. "The Master might be interested in looking at this book. He likes to revisit old memories. I might as well ask him what to do while I give it to him as a pleasant surprise."
The Starlight Queen couldn't become more shocked.
The old Master?!
This book that appeared in one of her Areas would even reach the Lightning Emperor?!
"Please give me a couple of minutes," Wester said politely. "I'll tell you how we will proceed soon."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," the Starlight Queen said politely.
Wester nodded, left his room, and went through the small door beside the one that led to his room.
He walked through a very long corridor for quite a while until he reached a small wooden door.
He knocked politely but entered quickly after.
The Lightning Emperor always told him that he shouldn't knock, but Wester, as the Custodian and butler, felt it to be appropriate, which was why he was doing so regardless.
When Wester entered, he saw an old man slowly reading through an old book.
"Wester, what brings you here?" the Lightning Emperor asked with a peaceful smile.
Wester slowly took out the book and held it in his right hand.
The Lightning Emperor looked over, and when he saw the book, his eyes widened a bit in pleasant surprise.
"Oh? That's the Weapon Master's Star Map," he said. Then, his eyebrows rose a bit further. "Is that the original copy?"
The book floated over to the Lightning Emperor, and he looked at it.
"Sure enough, that's the Tranquil Hammer Lord's aura," he said. "He was the one that made the technique back then."
A bit later, one of the books flew down from the gigantic bookshelf.
It was identical to the book that Wester had brought with him.
The Lightning Emperor's eyes grew distant as old memories resurfaced.
"I met him once, you know?" he said. Then, he released a humorous chuckle. "I still remember why he created this technique."
"He was always someone that acted very peaceful, but if you angered him in any way, he would never forget it and retaliate."
"But the funny thing is that he wouldn't attack you. After all, he was doing his best to keep his wildly prideful personality away from others."
"One of his rivals once taunted him about his disciples. He said that the Tranquil Hammer Lord was powerful but that he couldn't teach any of his disciples."
"The Tranquil Hammer Lord took it personally and went on to create this technique."
"And sure enough, after he made it, every other Weapon Lord, including the one that taunted him, came to him to ask for it."
"The Tranquil Hammer Lord gave everyone a copy, but he specifically created it so that the one Lord that taunted him couldn't properly use it."
"It was quite a spectacle back then."
The Lightning Emperor looked at the ceiling with a smile on his face.
"Good times."
