novelonline Chapter 3451 The History of Time
Chapter 3451 The History of Time
Chapter 3451 The History of Time
As Shad's voice faded, both Daniste and the cat looked ahead, but no books flew towards them.
But amidst the starry sky, faint star trails laid out another path before them. Both understood its meaning, and Shad once again took Daniste's hand, leading her along the path towards the moon.
No matter how far they moved, the size and distance of the silver moon hanging in the background of the library remained unchanged. While the surrounding bookshelves didn't change much either, Daniste, familiar with the star map, could see that the star map was changing as they moved.
Before long, the Starry Sky Path came to an end, and the view outside the bookshelves appeared in the library.
On a platform with three steps, there was a huge reading rack, and on the reading rack was a giant book that, when unfolded, was at least five meters wide and taller than Shad.
The two approached from the high steps at the front, so they couldn't see what the cover and back cover of the giant book looked like. The open portion of the book, like any other book in the library, was semi-transparent with a starry sky hue.
"I can't feel the whispering element, is this it?"
Shad asked softly, and Daniste shook her head:
"I've never seen it before either. Let's go take a look."
The two approached the platform, and only after ascending three steps did they sense the whispering elements. They realized these elements were suppressed by the other books in the library. This was a library left behind by the ancient gods; even the [Chronicle of Time] was just one book.
On the open pages of the book, only the upper left half had text, which was red and in the common language of Draurion.
Reading these words didn't bother them at all, because the content was very simple:
[Dannister Gustav and Shad Hamilton, together, used a ritual to open the Silvermoon Library. After learning some secrets of the Old Gods through the books left behind by Helena Carter and obtaining the Miracle-Myth and the Miracle-World respectively, the two came before the Book of Time.]
Shad hugged the cat tightly to prevent it from lunging at the book. He peered into the text and whispered:
"They actually found it? I thought there would be some twists and turns, but since it went so smoothly, I don't know what to do."
Then they saw the text automatically appear on the book:
[Shad Hamilton said: They actually found it? I thought there would be some twists and turns, but it went so smoothly that I don't know what to do.]
The record stopped where Shad had stopped speaking; this unknowable relic was indeed recording something.
The administrator understood what Xia De meant:
"You decide what to do. But Annat is right, it's best not to use relics of this caliber directly."
Then what she said was recorded in this book.
"These red characters look somewhat similar in color to the Philosopher's Stone."
Shad said again, then carefully extended his right palm and placed it on the blank space on the left side of the book.
His action worked; when he removed his palm, a series of runes appeared there:
[Name: Shad Suren Hamilton]
[Rank: Ring Warlock (Nine Rings)]
[Fortune: ↑↑↑]
Age: Two years old
[Astral Revelation: Your words of profound transcendence should seek answers from destiny.]
Shad blinked, but didn't seem surprised. Then he turned to look at Daniste, who happened to be looking at him as well.
Her face showed confusion and a hint of helplessness:
"Two years old. Could it be that your ability to confuse fate also applies to this book?"
Then they both noticed that the information about Shad in the book was slowly fading out, while the text above continued to read what Danist had said, only below her words, another line appeared:
[Dannister Gustave questions the contents of the Book of Time, unaware that "fortune" is determined by the god of destiny, "age" is given by the Tree of Time, and "revelation" comes from the observations of the Sage of the Moon.]
"Is this book conscious?"
Shad was shocked, but the red-haired sorceress still didn't believe it, or rather, dared not believe it:
“I must have misread it just now, Shad, try again.”
So Shad placed his palm on the book again, this time for a longer time. So when he removed his palm, not only did the basic information from before appear, but also various pieces of information that had appeared on relics such as the [Dice Story Collection] and [Fate Observer Card] that could observe the "truth" emerged.
His height and weight, magical spells, legendary influence, professional skills, and even the exact amount of wealth that Shad himself didn't know, were all listed clearly.
Xia De even felt that if he pressed his hand down a little longer, it would even write down that it liked black hair, purple eyes, and cat ears, and that it liked helping others.
Of course, although the information has become more detailed, the age is still "two years old".
Daniste's expression already showed some fear:
"I come."
As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves, intending to touch the book, but when his hand was less than two fingers' width from the page, it was blocked by an invisible barrier. Shad then reminded him:
"I found this book. You can read it with me, but you cannot touch it."
The sorceress pursed her lips and remained silent. Only when Shad pondered what he wanted to do with the book, and then suddenly had a bold idea, did she tug at Shad's hand again and ask:
"How old are you?"
Shad wouldn't lie to them unless absolutely necessary, so he hesitated for a moment before answering:
"Saying she's 22 is fine, but saying she's two years old is also somewhat reasonable. However, this isn't a very important issue, you don't need to worry about it."
Then the sorceress fell into a panic and confusion that Shad couldn't understand, but Shad didn't care. Just as he said, the question of how old he was was meaningless.
"Two years old" represents the time he came into this world—counting from the spring or summer of 1853. At most, this result only indicates that the book is indeed very sophisticated, capable of revealing results that other relics cannot:
"According to the library's rules, I should be able to read any of the books I've requested, but right now I don't want to turn to other pages of this book. Can I tear off a small piece of paper?"
He said to the book:
"The script of the puppeteer can be dissected into individual sheets of paper, so there's no reason why the history of time can't be dissected as well. Besides, I don't want to change the past or the future; I just want to take it out for research."
Who are you talking to?
"She" asked in Shad's ear, and Shad answered in his mind:
"Of course it's this book. I think this book might be able to answer the question."
She continued to smile:
[I sensed no living being, soul, or thought; this book is simply a book. Wait a moment, I can try to communicate with the library through inspiration.]
After a short wait:
You can tear off a small piece of paper as a token of your reward for entering the library. But after that, your library visit will be over.
"No problem, a single piece of paper will suffice."
Shad was quite satisfied. Although it was disappointing that he hadn't found out where Helena Carter was, the other gains were more than enough. He even learned that the Word of Ascension really had to be sought in the snowy mountains.
Helena Carter's words, "I'll be waiting for you at Mount Karas," fully proved that their efforts had not been in vain, and Shad believed that they would find the "Cursed Tree" sooner or later.
So he told Daniste the information he had received and that his journey was about to end. The sorceress, still lost in her own thoughts and occasionally glancing at Shad, seemed startled by Shad's sudden outburst.
"Shad, tell me honestly, you really are."
She wanted to ask more, but Shad embraced her and kissed her in the starry sky. He looked into the eyes of the caretaker, who initially had her eyes open as well, but later simply closed them, looking resigned. However, it seemed that at least she wouldn't dwell on such meaningless things anymore.
After the kiss ended, Shad reached for the Book of Time with his right hand, which was not being held by Daniste. But before he could touch the pages again, a small page, no bigger than Shad's palm, peeled off from the right side of the two open pages and floated into his hand.
"If the pages of the Angel-level [Puppet Master's Script] are Sage-level, then the pages of the Unknowable-level [Chronicle of Time] should also be Angel-level, right?"
He waited expectantly, and then the paper "melted" upon touching his palm, turning into power and disappearing.
[Stranger, you have acquired the wondrous art - the Handbook of Destiny. This art can help you record and interpret your destiny, corresponding to the [World] runes.]
"Ok?"
A thick fog rolled in from the starry sky, obscuring the moonlight and starlight, and everything in the library disappeared from view.
A few seconds later, accompanied by Mia's soft call, the scene of the living room reappeared after the fog dissipated. The magnificent silver doors that had stood on the high platform had vanished, and all the precious jewels and materials used in the ceremony had been consumed, leaving only the blank black book lying on the platform.
Shad looked at his right hand in surprise, confirming that the page had indeed disappeared. Daniste had also witnessed the scene and was about to ask Shad about the whereabouts of the page from the *Chronicle of Time* when she saw Shad casting a spell:
"The Magical Arts - Handbook of Destiny"
He reached out and gently touched the area in front of him, and the astonished librarian saw a giant book resembling "The Book of Time" unfold before Xia De. If it weren't for the fact that there were no whispered elements on the book, she would have even suspected that Xia De had successfully taken that unknowable relic out of the library.
PS: Some details in the previous chapter have been revised:
(i) The change of Ragnarok's jump cooldown time to 1 second and the distance to 300m is too exaggerated. It is corrected to 3 seconds and 200m.
918章的感悟后距离从10米变成了20米，2506章黑夜灵庙凡妮莎晋升十三阶后变成100米，在获得了【强效空间感知】后，冷却时间是5s。现在冷却时间和距离都进行了相应扩展。
(ii) The acquisition of World Spirit Runes now includes the following effects:
The realism of the Lock-type abilities is enhanced, and the spirit consumed to maintain the Lock is reduced.
Note that the consumption required to maintain the system has decreased, while the consumption required to activate it remains unchanged.