Chapter 8

Returning home, it was an immediate celebration.

Hyouketsu:

"I can't believe it was that easy! We even gained levels from it!"

Effie:

"The question is what will you be investing your skill points into?"

Nino:

"Magic."

Santos:

"So obvious..!"

Effie:

"What about you Keshin?"

Keshin:

"Oh- well I have something to do. I'll be back in a bit, I won't be leaving town so don't worry."

Hajikeru:

"Do you need me to come with you?"

Keshin:

"No, I'll be fine Sniper. I'll be back in a bit, just making a quick trip to the library is all. I had my eyes on this one book."

That was a lie. I just need want to look more into this 'Secret Arts'. It's the first time I've EVER heard of this. Why didn't they teach this at school? Regardless, I'll get my answers soon.

Nino:

"Oh, oh! The grand library! Please take me with you! I'll show you all my favourite books!"

Hyouketsu:

"She demands and she'll eventually get it. She's a force to be reckoned with Keshin. You can deny her all you want but she'll end up following."

Great. Well it's not that big of a deal if she comes with.

Keshin:

"I guess it can't be helped. We'll be back soon everyone."

It's only been two days right? Why does it feel like I've known these guys forever? Haha, what an odd feeling. Heading out, I decided against putting on my gear. It was unnecessary. Afterall, towns are what we call Safe Areas. There, no one can get damaged, and duels can only take place in areas such as the colosseum. In other words, it's completely safe there. Well that's said, but mobs can still damage us. But that's why the military exists. There should be a lot more on night shifts- and the lights shining about the place should make it easy to walk about without issue.

Walking out the inn, I took the moment to breath in. Despite it being night, it wasn't that cold. Rather it was the perfect temperature.

Nino:

"Hey, what're you doing just standing around? Let's go already."

Is it just me or is she more calm? Well it could be that she ran out of energy. It is night afterall. Though I can't shake this feeling that a pair of eyes are looking at me. Turning around, I saw nothing. My detection level just increased from it, but it's not like it evolved by much at all. I may as well start levelling it up anyway. Keeping it active, it felt like all my senses were heightened.

Nino:

"So what book do you want to look into anyway?"

Keshin:

"Ah, well Hyouketsu brought something interesting up earlier. It's about Secret Arts."

Nino:

"Ohh that! Only Hyou has been able to fully utilise that. He explained it to us countless times but we just can't seem to use it."

Keshin:

"That's what got me curious. I don't know how much devotion he put into mastering such an art, but I want to learn the origins of it."

Nino:

"Oh, I've been reading about it for a while now. About 5 or 6 months now. Want to hear my take?"

Keshin:

"I'm all ears."

Nino:

"There existed three infinites. The Crystal of Strength, the Crystal of Wisdom and the Crystal of Courage. Each one governed the world after the Gods ascended from the Earth, a gift that was bestowed upon us to see if we were truly capable of handling this world on our own."

She sounds like she studied a lot about this. Three infinites? This is the first time I've heard of such a thing. More than that, Gods? I thought there was only the Godess of Creation.

Nino:

"You see, there were several gods. The Godess of Creation and the God of Destruction were the most notable ones, well known to be the originators of the world and the only related Gods. The Godess of Creation created space for a world, allowed time to run through it and matter for things to actually exist within said world. With those three creations, she created three dieties. The God of Time, the Godess of Space and the God of Matter, to which they were tasked to govern each of the three creations."

Three more Gods that the Creation Godess created. She must have been incredibly powerful, but that comes naturally with originators. The Gods of Time, Space and Matter sound powerful as it is. Having control over three different elements that keep this universe in tact sounds powerful. But to be the creator of all of that- this Godess truly embodies omnipotence.

Nino:

"Despite the existence of time, space and matter- there was nothing to see. Not a single colour existed, so the Godess created more. She created the source that lights all, the sun. With that, she created the Sun Godess who gave the sun life and guarded it with her powers- to which the Sun Godess created stars to make the world look more beautiful."

Huh... So much about the gods. Just how much has Nino studied on this subject? The Creation Godess isn't even praised anymore- just a forgotten entity since they left us 17 generations ago. That's about all there is to know for the typical adventurer. I didn't even know there were multiple gods.

Nino:

"The world was incomplete though. What the Godess truly desired as beauty was life. She wanted life to thrive in this world, but they would have nowhere to be. There was space, but nothing but the sun and stars to fill that space up. That led to the creation of this Earth. The God of Fire who enhanced the core of the Earth. The God of Earth who created the land for life to live in. The Godess of Water who created water for more life to live- as well as to feed life, and the Godess of Wind who shaped the ozone layer to provide life with the necessary means of breathing. The Godess of Creation then initiated the next phase. She created the Godess of Life, who created life to swim through the ocean, life to soar through the skies and for life to roam the lands. The world was truly beautiful."

All this talk about the Creation Godess has me thinking. Did the God of Destruction do anything at all?

Keshin:

"Did the Destruction God do anything?"

Nino:

"Well. The Godess of Creation and God of Destruction actually possess the exact same power. They are both able to create and destroy- however they were each given their primary roles by us humans. Well, they weren't assigned them, but we like to believe that one is the creation and one is destruction."

Keshin:

"Why come up with that in the first place?"

Nino:

"The God of Destruction was disgusted by the Godess's actions. There was no balance, and she merely did this all for her own entertainment. Life lived in a stale way, no one was able to make decisions for themselves as they only listened to the Godess. That led to the creation of more entities. With too much sunlight, the God of Destruction created the Moon to which he created the Moon Godess to govern it. This creation allowed humans to actually keep track of time whilst the moon would circle around in space. That single creation provided incredible balance. It gave awareness to life that space, time and matter do exist. It gave awareness that the sun is its own entity and the the gods of nature weren't the only existing entities. The Godess of Creation loved the idea."

Keshin:

"Is there no downs to this story?"

Nino:

"Well... The story takes a turn now. The God of Destruction still saw imbalance in the world. That led to the creation of the God of Death, who governed how much time life gets to live. That restored balance to the universe which the Godess was careless about. You see, the universe will collapse if there is imbalance. When there's too much life, where would humans go? That would lead to the creation of more worlds and eventually- everything will collapse on itself. The God of Destruction may sound like the villain, but he was more like our saviour. The Godess of Creation was unable to see this, but the two eventually came to the agreement to leave the world for the life to prosper on their own."

Keshin:

"And if we don't..?"

Nino:

"They'll destroy everything she created. Everything will cease to exist."

Keshin:

"That's... One hell of a story... A frightening one at that."

That means the Gods still do exist. I find it hard to believe, but stories tell how the Gods left us and what led us forward was the Emperor who led his Empire, the King who led his Kingdom and the Pontifex who led her followers of the church.

Not much is stated about the Pontifex, but perhaps their religion of the Gods has been passed down for centuries without us realising it. We're so dependant on ourselves nowadays.

Nino:

"Looks like we're here!"

Keshin:

"Well you didn't explain Secret Arts yet, you went on about the creation story!"

Nino:

"Ah- I was getting to that! Come on, let's get a seat at the library."

Entering inside, the library is just as the name of it describes it. It's truly grand in size, about 3 different floors with colossal sized book shelves. There's no doubt that every book in history is within here. No doubt about it at all.

Nino:

"Let's go to an area where we won't get an earful for talking."

Keshin:

"Alright."

Librarian:

"SHHHH!"

Keshin:

"Sorry...!"

Following Nino, we ended up going to the third floor. She picked out a book, just like that. She must know the place pretty well.

Nino:

"Look at this image here."

She stated, flipping to the exact page where an image of three crystals showed. They were placed on a grid of a triangle.

Nino:

"The Godess of Creation bestowed a gift to life. The Crystals of Power, Wisdom and the God of Destruction gave us the Crystal of Courage, which was imbued with energy to supply the world with the power to create and destroy. The Crystal of Power, which is on the left side, gave us the strength to use the power of the Creation Gods. As of recent ages, we call them Sword Arts. The Crystal of Wisdom on the right is what gave us the strength to use the power of the Nature Gods. We call them Sacred Arts. The final crystal, the Crystal of Courage gave us the power to think for ourselves. The Will of the Gods, otherwise known as the Secret Arts."

Keshin:

"This all so hard to take in."

Nino:

"It's a lot of information dump, but at least you know more about the world now, right?"

Keshin:

"I sure do. So Secret Arts is the human will that we were given by the Destruction God... Say, Nino, do you know the limitations of each?"

Nino:

"Limitations? Well for Sword Arts, everyone believes that they are always set. That's why there's so few Sword Arts, about 20 if I'm correct. The same rule applies to Mage Arts. Only 20."

Keshin:

"So what about Secret Arts?"

Nino:

"Well, Secret Arts are... I don't know their limitation."

???:

"Lil' missy seems to be quite the information expert."

Keshin:

"You're..!"

It's that guy we met earlier- that adventurer who seemed incredibly skilled. He isn't carrying the sword though- nor his armour. I didn't think someone of his build would be in this library.

Seijitsu:

"Nice to see you back in one piece. Think of Secret Arts as the entrance to what we're really capable of."

Nino:

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

Seijitsu:

"Hm... The answer will come clear eventually. Secret Arts is something very commonly known amongst all adventurers. You'll come to figure it out as time passes by."

Keshin:

"How do you unlock that power?"

Seijitsu:

"Well, I think you've got what it takes to learn it yourself. Don't seek power immediately through knowledge kid. Earn it first."

Seijitsu then took off. How long was he there? Were those pair of eyes I felt on me earlier his pair of eyes? I'm not so sure.

Keshin:

"Well what's your take on it Nino?"

Nino:

"I'm not sure haha. Secret Arts are really hard to understand. I know they're the manifestation of our will, but I don't know how to access it. Perhaps it will come to me eventually."

Keshin:

"It's not like Hyouketsu will explain it any better either."

Nino:

"Heh. Well we got the answers we came here for. How about we call it a night and head back?"

Keshin:

"Yeah. That was a short trip."

Nino:

"Also, I noticed you were using your left hand today. I thought you were right handed."

Crap..! How good is this girl's attention? She seems like the most clueless one, but in terms of her attention to detail, she probably outmatches Hajikeru if she really tried...

Keshin:

"Y-yeah. You see I uh... I was trying to relearn everything I know onto my left hand, just in case my right arm becomes unavailable. Better safe than sorry right?"

Nino:

"You sure it isn't because your right arm isn't already unavailable? I saw your reaction when your right hand was tugged on. You felt a sharp pain on your shoulder."

She can read me like an open book. This girl really is dangerous- but she's certainly a lot more kind.

Nino:

"Sigh. I've known for a while. You don't have to hide it from me Keshin."

Keshin:

"Haha, you got me."

Nino:

"um..."

What's with that look on her face? I hope she isn't too worried about me... I should change the subject as soon as I can.

Keshin:

"Let's get going then. We got what we came here for. You should tell me more stuff."

Nino:

"I'd like that."

I can feel her trust growing in me. It's not strong by any means, but this is the start. I'll do my best to learn Secret Arts and to learn more about the Gods. Maybe there's a way to contact them and to learn more about this world's origins? Who knows?