Royal Library.

The library was immense. Floor after floor, shelves of golden wood stretched into the distance, each packed with books. The ceiling above them was impossibly high, adorned with chandeliers that cast a soft, almost eerie glow over the space. Despite the sheer size of the place, the atmosphere was stifling. The air felt thick with something unnameable, a weight that pressed down on Amara the moment they crossed the threshold.

"These are the lower levels." Vallen said. "His gaze swept over the shelves without much interest. "Basic stuff. Mortal books for beginners."

Amara's eyes scanned the rows of books, noting their simplicit. The first ten floors of the tower were dedicated to these foundational Skills, meant for novices just starting their path. It was impressive, but nothing about it felt dangerous. Still, the air made her uneasy. There was something here, lurking just beyond her senses.

They continued upward, the sound of their footsteps muffled by the plush golden carpets that lined the spiral staircases. The farther they climbed, the stranger the atmosphere became. Amara couldn't shake the feeling that something was shifting around her, the air itself growing heavier with every step.

By the time they reached the eleventh floor, Amara felt a sudden shift in the air, something darker, colder. Her skin prickled as they stepped into the new level. The shelves here were different, fewer, and arranged with more space between them, almost as if to give the books room to breathe.

"Divine books are kept here." Vallen said, his tone unchanged. 

Amara stopped for a moment, catching her breath. The atmosphere here was nothing like the floors below. It was as if the library itself had come alive. The walls seemed to pulse faintly, and the air buzzed with a sinister energy that made her skin crawl. She glanced at Vallen, but he remained completely unaffected, as if this was just another walk in the park for him.

"Can't you feel that?" Amara asked, her voice hushed, her heart racing.

Vallen raised an eyebrow, shrugging. "Feel what? It's just a library."

Amara swallowed hard. It was more than a library. She could feel the power in the air, the ancient knowledge pressing against her mind, daring her to step closer, to reach for something forbidden. It was almost menacing, as though the very air wanted to consume her.

At the center of the floor was a single shelf, but unlike any she had seen below. It stood isolated, its books glowing softly, each one emanating an aura of immense power. These were the Divine books. There were only a handful of them, and each seemed to pulse with its own unique energy. The glow from the books ranged from pale blue to deep gold, and the closer Amara got, the more overwhelming the sensation became. It felt like the books themselves were watching her, waiting.

One, in particular, caught her eye, a red-glowing one. The moment her eyes landed on it, she felt an invisible pull toward it. Her breath quickened.

"That one." She whispered, pointing at the book.

Vallen followed her gaze but didn't seem particularly impressed. "Is it calling you right?" he said with a lazy smirk. 

Amara nodded and couldn't pull her eyes away from the red-glowing book. There was something about it, something fierce and violent, as though it contained a power far beyond her understanding. The glow seemed to flicker, almost beckoning her closer. She hesitated, her fingers itching to reach out, to touch the spine of the book.

"What does it do?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Vallen shrugged again, completely unfazed. "Maybe something demonic." He turned his back on the glowing shelf, moving on as though nothing about this place held any meaning for him. "Come on. Let's not waste time."

But Amara couldn't shake the feeling that the library was alive, that this part of the tower held secrets far more dangerous than she had ever imagined. The red book still beckoned her, its glow pulsing softly, as if waiting for her to make a choice.

With a final glance at the glowing shelf, she tore herself away, forcing her feet to follow Vallen up the next set of stairs. But the feeling of being watched, of the library itself breathing, never left her.

Vallen and Amara climbed another floor, their footsteps echoing up the hollow staircase.

She could feel the shift in the air again, but this time, it wasn't the suffocating power of the Divine level that pressed against her chest. Instead, as they stepped into the new floor, she was greeted by an eerie silence, a silence so complete it felt as if the world had forgotten about this place.

She stopped, her gaze shocked and surprised. The floor was utterly abandoned. Shelves were broken, their golden frames twisted and shattered. Books lay strewn across the ground, torn pages scattered like fallen leaves.

"What happened here?" Amara whispered, her voice sounding unnaturally loud in the oppressive silence. For the first time since entering the library, the heavy atmosphere lifted from her shoulders. She felt... at ease, strangely calm. The unease that had gripped her earlier evaporated, replaced by a quiet, almost soothing calm.

Vallen gave the room a passing glance before stepping further in, his usual nonchalance unfazed by the destruction around them. He kicked aside a shattered piece of a bookshelf as if it were nothing, his boots crunching over the remains of countless ancient books.

Amara's eyes lingered on a nearby pile of books, curiosity getting the better of her. She crouched down, her fingers reaching toward an old, nearly destroyed book resting on the floor, its spine cracked, pages barely holding together.

Just as her hand brushed the cover, Vallen's hand shot out, slapping it away with startling speed.

"Don't touch anything." He snapped, his tone more serious than she had ever heard before. 

"Why not?" She asked, shaken by the sudden change in his demeanor.

"This floor is called the Forgotten Floor." He said, his voice cold and direct. "But there's another name for it, Books of Death. Every book you see here each one of them has killed more than ten people. That's why they've been abandoned and trashed here."

Amara's heart skipped a beat as she glanced around the room, her stomach dropping. The calm she had felt a moment ago took on a new, sinister meaning. It wasn't peace, it was the stillness of death. The silence wasn't comforting, it was the absence of life. 

"Killed people?" She whispered.

Vallen nodded, his eyes sweeping over the destruction as if it were nothing more than an inconvenience. "These books, they're not just dangerous to read. They connect with you the moment you touch them. If you're not strong enough you'll die before you can even open it."

Amara's eyes widened in horror. She glanced back at the pile of books she had been about to touch, the realization of what could have happened sending a chill down her spine. The quiet calm she had felt now twisted into a sense of dread, the kind that made her skin crawl.

She stared back at Vallen, who was casually picking up books, glancing at their titles, and tossing them aside without a second thought. The books hit the ground with dull thuds, sending up small clouds of dust.

"Are you fine?" Amara asked hesitantly, watching him toss aside another book as if it meant nothing. "You said the books connect with you. Shouldn't you be... careful?"

Vallen glanced over at her, his expression as calm and indifferent as ever. "I've been here before." he said simply, picking up another book, glancing at its cover, and tossing it aside. "These books are dangerous, yeah, but they're not all the same. Some of them are Divine level ones, others Celestial or Mortal, but despite the level difference they are all powerful in their own way."

Amara watched him, fascinated by how casually he handled the deadly tomes. He flipped through them as if they were ordinary, despite the aura of death clinging to the room. "So why are you picking them up?" 

Vallen smirked, his eyes flashing with a hint of amusement. "Because, hidden in this mess, there are a few gems." He tossed another book aside, its cover cracking as it hit the floor. "I'm looking for one for you. And maybe one for me."

Amara's eyes widened. "For me?" She looked around the floor, her gaze landing on the sea of shattered books, each one now feeling like a ticking bomb. "But... how will we know it's safe?"

"You won't." Vallen said flatly. "Not until you try. That's why I'm looking. I know what to look for."

He reached for another book, its cover faded and cracked, but when he opened it, a faint glow emitted from the pages. He read the title, then shrugged and tossed it aside again. Amara realized he wasn't just carelessly throwing them, he was examining them, deciding which might be worth the risk.

She stepped closer, her heart still racing from his earlier warning. "But these books... they've killed people. How do we even... use them?"

Vallen paused, holding up a book with an ornate silver cover. "The trick is not to let it control you." He said, his tone more serious now. "When you pick up a book in this library, it tries to connect with your mind, your soul. If you're not strong enough, you faint. Or worse, you die. But if you are strong enough you are good." He let the sentence hang, leaving Amara to imagine the possibilities.

Amara nodded slowly, her eyes darting to the broken books at her feet. The weight of the place had returned, but it wasn't oppressive anymore. It was dangerous. A deadly kind of tension hummed in the air, and yet she couldn't help but feel a strange thrill at the thought of the power contained within these books.

Vallen continued sifting through the pile, his eyes sharp and focused, while Amara stood in the eerie silence, the weight of death all around her. She had come to the Royal Library seeking knowledge, but now, standing on this forgotten floor, she realized just how dangerous that pursuit could be.

"And who even brought these books here?" Amara asked, her voice low as she carefully watched every step she made, avoiding the books laying on the floor.

"The Emperor himself." Vallen replied, casually tossing another book aside. "The one blessed by the gods. He can enter the library whenever he wants. In a way, he's the keeper of this place."

Her curiosity piqued. "So... he's the strongest.?"

Vallen shook his head, a faint smirk on his lips. "No, not quite. He may be blessed by the gods, but he can't learn anything from these books. If he picks one up or opens it, there's nothing there for him. That's why, when people died because of these books, he was the one who had them thrown here."

Amara's brow furrowed in confusion. "But I've heard rumors... that he has some kind of Skill. Something invisible. They say that if he points his finger at someone, that person just drops dead."

"It's not a Skill. It's more like an authority. The authority of the royal's bloodline. His daughter, Seraphina, has it too. And all the rulers before him, they had it as well. It's a power passed down through the royal bloodline, gifted by the gods."

"Gods?" 

"I think it was originally a Divine level book." He said, glancing over his shoulder at her. "One of the ancestors of the bloodline must have absorbed its power. And somehow, that was passed down through generations."

Amara stared at him, if what he said was true, the royal family's authority wasn't just a blessing, it was the result of a long forgotten Divine book. Her gaze wandered over the scattered books on the floor, the deadly knowledge they held. The power that had killed so many... perhaps it wasn't so different from the Emperor's ability.

"Finally." Vallen said with a book in his hand.

"What it is."

"The Divine book can grant invisibility for a period of time."

Amara quickly noticed that Vallend's hand started to tremble, like the book started to pull him down.

"Are you–"

"I'm good, but close your eyes and look at the other way, while I deal with it." Vallen said while his gaze never leaving the book, he connected with it.

Amara froze a little but did what Vallen said.

Opening it, an invisible force tore through him, shredding through his mind and body simultaneously. The pages seemed to breathe, each word alive with a terrifying, ancient energy. Vallen's vision blurred as searing pain exploded through his skull, thousands of thoughts, images, voices all at once, screaming, clawing their way into his consciousness. It felt as if his mind was being forcibly stretched, torn apart to fit the sheer volume of knowledge that was trying to flood in.

He could barely think as his body trembled. Muscles contracted painfully, his veins felt like they were filled with molten iron, burning and twisting beneath his skin. Blood dripped from his nose, and mouth, his teeth clenched against the agony that seared through every fiber of his being.

His mind was assaulted by fragmented visions: the master of the book, the master whose soul formed to be this book, stood before him. The sheer magnitude of it was overwhelming an endless ocean of suffering, death, and creation. Vallen's hands shook violently, barely able to hold the book as he fought to stay conscious.

It was testing him. Pushing him to the edge to see if he was worthy. Each breath he took felt like a battle, each second an eternity. 

Amara froze the moment she heard Vallen's first scream.

The sound was nothing like she had ever imagined, a raw, guttural noise of agony that echoed off the towering walls of the library. Her heart lurched in her chest, and for a split second, the air itself seemed to grow heavy, suffocating her with the weight of Vallen's suffering. She stood there, as the distant sound of blood dripping onto the floor filled the space, each drop echoing.

Desperate and full of fear, she crouched down, pressing her hands against her ears, trying not to hear anything.

And some minutes later a touch on her shoulder made her slowly turn around, looking up to see Vallen smiling down at her, his face covered in blood, the whites of his eyes blood-red, but he acted as if nothing had happened.

"Are you…good?" 

"Yeah why?"

"Nothing…" Amara whispered while standing up, her gaze still at Vallen's face, and then it happened. 

Out of nowhere, Vallen pressed the book he had fought for his life into her hands. Amara was immediately filled with the power radiating from the book, and she instinctively flipped through its pages, reading the lines and absorbing it.

What she saw was only the lifespan of the master soul, the time he spent perfecting his power, and dying using it.

As she snapped out of the book and fell to the floor shocked, her nose started to bleed.

"This was swordsmanship." She looked up, realizing what just Vallen did.

He made it easy for her to learn it, he absorbed all the terror the book offered and before he could absorb the knowledge, he handed it to her. Instead of resetting their levels to zero, the System took away 50 levels from both of them.

"Why–"

Before she could speak Vallen threw another book at her hands which immediately connected with her and absorbed the Skill, but she fainted after finishing it.

"You will understand." Vallen whispered while picking up another one which he absorbed and then the Royal Library closed its doors, throwing them out to the garden where they were before stepping in.

With this, Amara Elaris became the sixth person in the Imperium to possess a Divine Skill, the master of the swordsmanship 'Ten Thousand Blades,' and the wielder of 'Shield of Armies,' which was none other than formed from the soul of Siro Haven, who developed the Skill further throughout his life and was buried in the avalanche at Northern battle.