CHAPTER 176: ANCESTRAL LIBRARY

Finally being in Loen City, Elliot made some moves.

He did more research around the Clark House and the allies he had found out about the other night.

But on Saturday night, Steward called him at the Guild. He had something important for him.

"Elliot, regarding the question you asked me before the fight with the House of Fire, I have answers that may satisfy you." He said and bestowed a token on him. "It is an Entrance Token for the Ancient Library."

Elliot looked at that in shock. ’An entrance token to that sacred place?’

He looked at Steward. "You mean there’s the information I’m looking for in there?"

"That’s right. Almost all the information there will be valuable to you, but remember that you’re only going to find things from many years ago there. Didn’t you want to find out where that symbol came from? It’s ancient, that’s all I can tell you."

Elliot nodded. It was old enough that there was information about it and powerful enough to try to avoid talking about it.

He understood perfectly.

"When can I come in?" he asked.

"Whenever it’s to your liking. This entry token works for 1 month. If you win the tournament, you will be awarded one that grants entry for 1 year."

"I would like to enter immediately, then." He replied quickly.

He hadn’t forgotten the information Jeff had given him about Clark’s Ancestral Lands, which might have given him the answer or brought him closer to the answer about his father.

That place might have the information about it, so he wanted to go there as soon as possible.

Steward nodded and decided to take him to that place without thinking. He also took Jenna with them.

Steward drove a car to the central area.

To one side of the Secretary of Government building was a huge old cathedral-like building, built long and rectangular. It had large pillars in front of it, while royal guards guarded it.

There were no guards to the city, so it was the safest place for Elliot. The royal guards protected it and would not heed the call of anyone but the king.

As soon as they arrived and showed the entry token, they could enter without any inconvenience.

"I never thought I could get into this place." Jenna said as she looked at the ancient paintings around a long hallway that would lead them to the library.

The smell of books and wood overtook them, and the ancient paintings looked at them curiously. These places rarely have visitors.

Once past the main hallway, they entered the first part of the library.

"It’s gigantic." They both said at the same time.

But somehow it was lovely, the pile of books neatly arranged, one after the other.

The shelves and floors were divided into amounts of time.

"The books get updated every 100 years, don’t they? Looks like there’s going to be a new update soon." Elliot said.

There were divisions for books written (or rewritten) 100 years ago. 200 years ago. 300 years ago.

From there, it was every 50 years, as it was from 350 years ago to 400 years ago, 450 years ago, and...

"Amazing. Are there books from before the system came along?" Elliot and Jenna stared at each other.

Somehow, they felt the need to see the kind of books they wrote before that.

There was not much information about it outside. They both couldn’t stand the curiosity and approached the place.

There weren’t many books, but a few collected precious information.

And the author... it was peculiar.

-Information collected by Lee.

’Ancestor Lee, perhaps?’ Elliot thought.

They had been written after the System appeared, then. Only they collected information from before the appearance.

Opening it, they suddenly found themselves immersed in a somewhat curious reading of a world similar to the one they lived in.

There was a lot of technology and several inhabited continents, five to be precise.

Each had its own diversity, but it was a world ruled by humans. They had no power, but they had firearms and weapons of mass destruction.

They had knowledge of these weapons because they were initially used against the beasts. They destroyed a lot of territory in the emerging world, territory that was later occupied by the waters, but they were still not enough.

They were powerful weapons, but did not work properly against awakened ones.

For example, a Hero would have no problem resisting their blasts, although their radiation would affect them.

A Saint could even withstand the explosions of thousands of those things and not be affected. Let alone a God.

Also, one reason they no longer exist is that, besides being practically useless against the strong, the Gods banned their use for a reason.

When they exploded several of these to kill a powerful beast, it mutated from the radiation, and all nearby beasts did.

This created one of the greatest disasters caused by beasts on a large continent.

It is known as the Dead Sea Leviathan Case.

Originally, it was only a Rank A dragon, nothing for the mighty to fear, but it wreaked havoc on the small nations of the Highlands (Old Continent of Pangaea).

It destroyed one, and that caused the neighboring nations to use weapons of mass destruction, which, from then on, were allowed to a certain extent, as long as the radiation was controlled.

There should have been no problems that time, but after the explosions of several nuclear bombs, the dragon ended up falling into the Dead Sea there, with countless other beasts.

A desolate place where not even the Awakened dared to enter.

That’s why they thought it was dead.

But no one knew that the dragon had somehow evolved with the radiation and had absorbed many beasts that fell with it, until it became a mighty Leviathan, one of the few monsters on record that can reach Divine Rank.

That beast did not stand still. She went out and destroyed those she considered enemies. She gained intelligence powerful enough to lead great armies of beasts and create what is known as the Great Beastly War, desolating an entire large region of the largest continent in extent and affecting even the Ancient Continent.

It was so terrifying that the God of the World himself had to come down from his chambers to appease and subsequently kill it.

Subsequently, many tests were made with radiation to see if it was possible to create some kind of living being artificially. Still, they concluded that it was impossible. Therefore, the God of the World and the rest of the Gods banned the use of nuclear weapons definitively and dismantled all nuclear weapons that existed at that time.

Right now, it is only used to generate energy, although there are better options, and one has never been exploited again.

Therefore, the last vestiges of that era no longer exist.

There are only stories left of an era full of technology, when humans reigned and there were no beasts like there are now.

Where the system was only part of the fantasy stories of the time, and where there were no dungeons of any kind.

The dangers at that time seemed to be the nations themselves rising against each other, a common occurrence in human societies.

However, these books and the experiences of Ancestor Lee, who lived in that era, made it evident that humans lived without much fear of death.

In this era, the Awakened Ones can kill an entire city without anyone noticing. It has happened before.

And while they are penalized (some) by the system, at the end of the day, the penalty is sometimes not enough to stop them from being able to exact revenge.

Still, there was something that era could not match: the ability to achieve godhood.

At present, a human can become a god of this world. To have a power capable of destroying a continent on his own or to simply reign over it by the sheer force of his hands.

That was the power that could be achieved, which was impossible before.

Elliot and Jenna couldn’t help but compare eras as they read these stories.

There was improvement in some cases, such as the fact that the poor were fewer lately, but there was an incredible decline in other aspects, such as wages and quality of life.

In this world, if you are not in a big city with Heroes or Saints, you are practically completely unprotected.

Because it is possible that beasts can launch attacks against an entire city and kill you. It’s not common, but it has happened before.

Not counting the Misfits, which are used every day to kill, as they are not penalized by the system. The Law has also deteriorated.

This is due to the presence of Awakened Ones in all areas. They don’t live like ordinary citizens and lack empathy, so they don’t usually do them justice unless you have a lot of money.

But all this was just decoration.

’Not what I’m looking for.’ Elliot thought, even though he was interested in reading further about the history of that slightly curious world presented by Ancestor Lee.

He wanted to read about the world between the first 100 years after the System.

And it didn’t take him long to find information about it.