46. Ancient Book (part 1)

Character : Jonah Calfman, Ancient Book

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Ever since we dropped off Nathan and Eric by the pentagonal pyramid building, we've just been waiting in the southern area from the super tall trigonal pyramid tower.

Each of the three corners of the triangular tower has a group of smaller buildings, and the type of buildings varies from a four cornered pyramid to a five cornered pentagonal pyramid. Some of them have doors where we can enter, and some others are fully closed no matter which side we tried entering from.

Another thing we noticed was how these buildings are placed and positioned. With the five cornered pentagonal pyramid in the middle, the rest of the four cornered pyramids are surrounding it, and they always have one of the corners of the pyramids facing the pentagonal pyramid.

In total, there's five pyramid and one pentagonal pyramid. From here, we can easily deduce that the pentagonal pyramid is the most important building in the southern area. Right?

Wrong, because the pentagonal pyramid doesn't have any entrances. Instead, the only building here that has an entrance is the pyramid that is standing in between the pentagonal pyramid and the super tall triangle tower.

Princess Frisena's men have already investigated the interior of every pyramid that stood between the pentagonal pyramid and the super tall triangle, on all the three sides of the tower. We found out that this pyramid is the only one with an object inside of it. 

Of all the buildings that have an entrance, this one is the only one with an object inside.

The object is a small lectern right at the center of the pyramid's interior, with an opened book placed on top of it. The book had black pages with red texts written on top of it, but the text was written using a language that no one has ever seen before.

Princess Frisena called a group of Ellen academy teachers to study the book, and they have been taking their time studying it ever since we arrived. However, the only thing that they could find were only four facts.

One, the book cannot be moved no matter what. Anyone who touches the book will get punched backwards by an invisible force, which we all guessed to be a form of wind origin technique.

Second, the language is actually similar to the images that Frisena has shown us. It is the language from the ancient society where the war demon Omega once lived. Seeing that it's an ancient language from our own land, it's definitely something within the expertise of the academy teachers to decipher.

Third, after taking their time deciphering, they came to us with the confirmation that this book mentions summoning the war demon. It's said that the words said in the book have a direct translation to calling forth Omega from the dead, and we all knew right away about what the book is used for.

Fourth and finally… this book's purpose.

"If it was the main object to summon the war demon, then we should get rid of it." A voice replied through the small screen tablet on Lily's hands, and we all nodded to the command.

"Understood, Frisena. But, how exactly do we get rid of it?" Lily said to her sister behind the screen tablet, but I bet the crown princess doesn't know a single thing about it as well.

"Ask the teachers for any clues. If they can read the book, then you can tell them to try and read more of the contents." Frisena gave the suggestion since that's the only thing we can go for, and we all agreed.

"And please… hurry. We don't know how long Nathan and Eric can hold off the headmaster from coming." Frisena pleaded one last time, and Lily turned off the call right away.

"Let's head inside." Lily suggested before turning around, followed by me and Nyssa. 

We are currently outside the pyramid that stood between the pentagonal pyramid and the tall triangular tower. At the southern side of the tower, this pyramid is the only one that has an object inside it, and we guessed that this place might be the most important spot out of all the buildings.

Before entering the pyramid, we bade farewell to the hundreds of guards that are protecting this pyramid from any visitors. All of them wore special equipment and gears that Princess Frisena had prepared for them, and there is a specific reason as to why they had to wear such gears.

Upon entering, the first thing we noticed was from how empty the interior was. The teachers of the academy who are studying the black book wish to have privacy as they study the book, and they feel having a hundred soldiers and knights guarding them inside the pyramid is only going to be a nuisance. As such, only five soldiers were guarding the teachers and the book, while the four teachers were busy surrounding the book while taking notes.

"Ah, Princess Lily, Jonah Calfman, and Winnyssa. Right?" One of the teachers who came was actually our homeroom teacher. 

She teaches the origin and elemental studies, which was basically the most important subject in the academy. She knows more about origins and that kind of stuff than other teachers, second only to the late Miss Hilda that has passed away.

"Greetings, Miss Marlin. We just want to deliver what Frisena wishes to let you know." Lily said to the teacher, and she nodded firmly.

"Let me guess. She wants to destroy the book?" The teacher asked while folding her hands, and we all nodded. "It will be difficult to do so. After deciphering the contents, we found out that the book is protected by a powerful sorcery."

"Sorcery?" I asked out of confusion, and the teacher turned to me.

"It's a different idea compared to origins entirely. Sorcery is like magic. It's outside of the realm of the seven origins. And the sorcery that is protecting this book… it's not something that can be broken by simply origin abilities." The teacher said while pointing at the book, and it looks like all the other teachers are listening to us as well.

"Then, do you mind if we give this a try?" I said as a suggestion, and the teacher nodded while chuckling.

"Sure. Give it your best shot!"

Now that we have confirmation, I turned to the others to see if they agree. From their faces it looks like Lily and Nyssa are relying on me.

"Go ahead. My ability will just spray water everywhere." Lily said while shaking her head, and Nyssa nodded in agreement.

"Mine will throw dust everywhere."

"Nyssa is useless, so you got this." Lily added, which annoyed Nyssa a little bit.

I nodded at them with a grin, and I turned to the teachers again. "Then, please stand back."

After making sure the area is clear, I stood all by myself right next to the book. Now that I'm looking at the book closely, I noticed how the book is covered in a dark purple aura, and I knew right away that this book is indeed enchanted by a form of sorcery.

Can my earth origin ability… break through something like that?

No, it doesn't matter. I just have to give it a try.

I lifted my hand and took out a large golden blade from my golden storage bracelet. It's the blade of the legendary holy knight, a knight that has died honorably while protecting his kingdom. And with the blade lifted upwards, I took a deep breath and activated the technique I spent so much time learning.

Limit Break!

In a split second, my body became much more powerful. A portion of the back of my hair turned bright yellow, and I can feel the earth around me to be so calming.

Yes… this feeling. It feels so good!

Once I activated the mastery phase, I gathered a ton of power to my blade. The ground around me shook, and the sand next to my feet began to float upwards. The rocks and sands slowly made their way to the shining golden blade that my father once used, and once I had gathered enough power, I let go of the breath as I struck down the sword.

VWOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!

PAAAAANNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

W-What…!?

My sword was stuck halfway, and I knew right away that something was up. By the time my focus returned to my eyes, I realized I am standing face to face with death itself.

The headmaster… is right in front of me. His right hand is bleeding from stopping my powerful blade, halting it completely from ever touching the book.

"What do you think you are doing… Jonah Calfman?" The headmaster asked me with his cold golden eyes, and I could feel death shaking me inside and out.

I want to puke. I want to run. Escape.

Where is everybody? Why didn't they help me? What is going on? How is he here?

This situation… I have to---

VWOOOOSSSSSSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!----

In an instant, my entire body was swept up by a powerful gust of wind. I was pulled backwards very strongly, and my body simply accepted the pull without any retaliation.

As my body plunged backwards, a bright blue water dragon flew right next to my face, diving straight towards where the headmaster and the book is located. With my own eyes, I saw as the headmaster lifted his hand and conjured a bright white shield that looked barely transparent, and the water dragon only exploded after it touched the shield.

The water dragon couldn't pierce through the shield at all, and the shield looked intact.

"None of you are touching this book anymore." The headmaster said coldly to us. 

After arriving next to Nyssa and Lily, I hurriedly tried standing up and turned to Nyssa to thank her. But before I could say a single word, Nyssa started flying forward.

"W-Wait, Nyssa--"

"Jonah!! Cover!!!" Next to me, Lily shouted angrily, and I knew instantly about why she was so angry.

I was… being afraid again.

Long before the battle began, before the ancient buildings appeared, even before the headmaster showed up at the academy… Everyone had a deep conversation with each other.

One week after the incident that took the lives of the dark knight and our vice headmaster, Nathan gathered the five of us at the new base that was just constructed. Lily, Nyssa, Eric, Nathan and I, all sat down on the round table per his request, and we all listened to his request at that table.

It was… a very odd conversation that we had.

"You guys… should go back to the academy." Nathan suddenly told us, even though we all have been together ever since the start of the war with the dark republic.

"W-Why!? Don't tell me you're planning on facing the headmaster alone!?" Lily suddenly became very angry upon hearing that request. And truthfully, I am quite pissed as well.

"Nathan. You can't face him alone." I said to my best friend with such a cold tone, but the gaze he gave me was even darker than I ever could've imagined from him.

"Then, should I really bring four cowards with me to fight against such a powerful opponent?" Nathan replied to our worries with such harsh words, and both Lily and I became so speechless. 

Even Nyssa's expression looked so widely shocked, and that's because we all knew why he said such a thing.

We all knew how close Nathan was with the dark knight of Fiordall. While it's true that Lily was also very close to him, her relationship with Nathan is still nothing compared to Nathan's history with the woman known as Felicia. And yet, during the end of the battle, only one person ever dared to stand up against the headmaster.

That was Nathan. He alone stood against the headmaster and did his best to fight him. And whilst he was doing that, everybody else was too busy running away, since the headmaster was simply too powerful for us.

I remembered wanting to cry and pee myself at that moment. Seeing how easy it was for the headmaster to kill Miss Hilda and the other soldiers who came with us, I wanted to flee no matter what. He killed them faster than the eye can blink. And yet, the only reason he spared us was because we are still his students.

The only reason we were alive… was because we're students of the academy he led for hundreds of years. Not even Miss Hilda was spared by his cruelty. That man is truly a monster, and none of us lifted our hands against him… Other than Nathan.

And at the end of our escape, the massive blast took away the life of someone Nathan deeply cares about. He got into a state of denial for many days, and I'm sure he is still grieving up until this point.

Now, he is trying to push that blame to someone else, and I can't really blame him. I felt the same way when my father dies, and I wanted to blame Nathan for not being able to protect him.

But, I was able to stop myself from having those kinds of thoughts because I knew Nathan did his best. 

This situation… is very different.