The dearest friend(2)

Cyrus wasn't familiar with this name.

Markus guessed his confusion and cleared his throat.

"Years ago, I used to live under a mentor of mine."

"We used to travel the entire continent to pursue our archeological ambitions, and in one of our trips, we found this scroll in a ruin."

"After deciphering it, it didn't seem to hold any important information."

"It was written by a certain Polymedes, and spoke of how his peers considered him a lunatic, a crazy man."

Then, Markus showed him the two scrolls side-by-side.

"Look at the signature in the bottom-left."

Cyrus obliged, and in fact, the writing in that corner of the scroll was exactly the same in both documents.

"This is exciting...!" Markus clenched his fist.

"Give me a second to translate it...."

The scholar immediately went back to his study.

The more he read, the more his expression turned incredulous.

"Making...enchanted tools? What does this mean?" His brows furrowed together.

*BAM*

Then, as if he received enlightenment, Markus hit the table.

"Say, do you know what Artifacts are?" He asked Cyrus.

"Uh....no..."

This lack of information amongst the players was a recurring theme.

The downside to Paragon Online was the fact that the developers only shared absolutely essential information, and it was up to the players to discover the rest by themselves.

"Artifacts are ancient weapons or tools that have special powers beyond what their normal counterparts can do."

"I always thought that they just always...existed, but this scroll will fundamentally change our knowledge on these tools," The sheer excitement in his expression was incredible.

"How so?" Cyrus would maybe be able to gain an advantage over the other player through this information, hence he listened extremely carefully.

What he didn't know, was that his future experiences in the game were going to change entirely because of this encounter.

"It is said that today, Truscany possesses 17 tomes of a book they call 'The Encyclopedia'."

"This book has a list of all of the Artifacts in existence, allegedly."

"If what this scroll says is right, then Truscany might have been able to conquer the entire continent thanks to one special ability..."

Markus spoke slowly as if to emphasize every syllable, "Being...able...to...make...Artifacts."

Then, he brusquely stood up from his seat, and zealously exclaimed, "Thank you very much for sharing this document!!"

When he raised his head again, Cyrus perceived hints of moisture around his eyes.

The scholar was...crying.

"My mentor used to strive towards an impossible goal."

"She called it...the commonwealth of knowledge."

"The human mind doesn't need scrolls or texts to remember information, and that's beautiful."

"My mentor...she wished for a time when accurate information was available to everyone, and we went past the need for written records."

'That's...impossible,' Cyrus kept his thoughts to himself.

"For all of these years, I've been hiding in this place, hoping that she is somewhere out there."

The man's speech turned into a monologue.

"Running a stupid newspaper and forgetting my true dream."

"What's...your true dream, may I ask?" Cyrus observed the sobbing man.

Markus removed his humid glasses.

Without the glasses, his brown eyes had a golden glint to them.

"In truth, I am Truscan myself, though I've never been to my homeland."

"I don't aspire for conquering the continent or anything, I just want justice for my people."

Markus looked at him, and continued, "And the best way to get justice is through...knowledge."

"I'm not actually Markus."

The man held out his hands after saying that strange remark, and stated, "Nice to meet you, I'm Bartholom Andre, Truscan archeologist, and historian."

Cyrus shook the man's hands, and replied, "I'm Cyrus, nice to meet you too."

"Cyrus, for contributing to the commonwealth of knowledge, I consider you the dearest of friends," Bartholom slightly bowed his head.

Then, the man wiped his tears, and resolvedly said, "Let me copy the first document in modern language for you."

He brought out a blank sheet of paper and wrote a few paragraphs.

Then, he also copied the document that Cyrus found, and gave the latter the original while keeping the copy.

Now, a translated line of text appeared on top of the scroll.

However, a pop-up blocked the text.

(Transition into Class: Disciple of Polymedes?)

(Error: Classes only available at Level 10!)

Cyrus was shocked that from a random scroll, and a serendipitous encounter, he was able to unlock a Class.

And unlike most basic classes, this one seemed unusual.

'Perhaps I can make Artifacts?' Cyrus remembered the emphasis Bartholom had placed on the word 'Artifact' earlier.

In any case, he couldn't use it now, so he would wait to reach Level 10.

When he woke up from his contemplative state, he saw that Bartholom packed up a heavy bag and was at the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving this city and the Republic."

"I may be weak, but as an archaeologist, I should be willing to risk my life for more knowledge."

Then, he mumbled, "Thank you for this encounter, I hope to meet you again, Cyrus."

The door closed, and Cyrus was now alone in the apartment that was not his.

__________

-Earlier that day-

Next to the coast of Cape Immergroen, there was a gigantic and lush island.

On the island, a few men and women wearing sailor clothing lived.

They were inside a hut, discussing various meaningless matters.

"Sindibad is here!" A bearded man ran into the hut and shouted.

"Yours truly is here."

Another man came inside.

If Cyrus were here, he would recognize the man as the 'criminal' that the two scary soldiers were pursuing.

This was the crew that left with Sindibad when he abdicated from his position as Admiral, and they've been with him ever since.

"Sindibad!"

"It's been a while!"

They all hugged and had a touching reunion.

Then, a short and stout-looking man with a blind eye asked Sindibad, "So, where's the scroll?"

Sindibad enthusiastically searched through his pockets.

Then, as his search didn't bring up the scroll, his expression turned sour.

But, he pretended that he performed a magic trick and awkwardly exclaimed, "I...don't have it!"

The crew members put a palm to their face unanimously, and the one-eyed man mocked, "So you ran through half of the continent, only to come with empty hands?"

"Ahuar, I only care about the scroll not being in the Sultan's hands, it doesn't matter if anyone else has it."

"..."

"Well, we've got to move, right?" A crew member proposed.

"Where do we go?" They all asked Sindibad.

Sindibad exclaimed, "We're on Cape Immergroen, the southernmost city of the continent."

"Where do you think we can go? Of course, we're going to the Ostral Lands!"

The crewmen and women gasped when he mentioned 'Ostral Lands'.

"We've faced the wrath of the ocean, don't tell me you're scared of some dragons and elves?"

"...No..."

"Then, let's depart!"

Suddenly, the entire island began moving.

In truth, this wasn't an island, but a giant tortoise.

They had met her on one of their trips, and ever since then, she has been their best friend and has navigated the high seas and oceans with them.