Cave Of Knowledge

Seeing Yuro run off from us was a huge relief. I didn’t think he was the accepting type. If the captain had refused to listen, the outcome would have been worse.

“Wow, I’m surprised that worked,” noted Amada.

I slowly turned my head away from Yuro as I replied, “Yeah… let’s not ask questions.”

I brought my attention to Naima. Without hesitation, I changed the topic and asked her, “Naima, let’s go to the library. Show us the way!”

Naima obliged and prepared to head out. However, before we left for the library, I needed to retrieve the Tri-Carver. I made the group stay put while I headed to the fighting area.

…

As I arrived near the center of the village, the sound of chattering and grunting flooded my ears. I turned the corner and got a clear view of the vast area.

A crowd was forming around the center. The elves closed off every angle, making it hard to see what was happening. The Tri-Carver was somewhere around there. What was happening?

My curiosity piqued. So, I decided to head in there to take a closer inspection.

As I approached the crowd, the elves cheered and applauded, growing louder as if they were reacting. Strangely, the sound of male groaning grew.

I crammed my way into the group of elves, finding an opening. Once I entered the center of the crowd, I discovered some elves trying to lift the Tri-Carver.

One by one, they tried to lift the sword. The crowd cheered them on as they struggled to yank the weapon from the ground. The spectators were so invested in watching the contestants that they tossed their money in the middle to place bets.

The veins in the contestants’ arms and heads nearly burst from the force they exerted. They tried everything in their power, but the blade would not move a single inch. My gaze shifted uneasily toward them as a bead of sweat ran down my cheek. It seemed they had created their own event, and the Tri-Carver was their version of Excalibur.

I couldn’t entertain anymore of this stupidity.

I was running on a tight schedule, so I had to stay focused. After the last elves failed, I strolled past them and picked up the Tri-Carver with ease.

The elves surrounding me welcomed me with a warm round of applause and cheers. I was literally wielding the Tri-Carver earlier. Why am I getting praised for having my weapon!?

Soon after grabbing my blade, I went back to regroup with Naima and the others.

…

The team patiently waited for me to return, fidgeting with their clothes or gossiping among themselves. I caught up with them, showing off the Tri-Carver.

With the limited time we had, we bought ourselves more time after some negotiation with Yuro. The sun rested directly above the village, so we had half the day to spare. We used it to our advantage and rushed through the town, making our way to the library.

It took multiple turns and shortcuts to arrive at the destination. The longer we walked, the fewer buildings we saw. After fifteen minutes, we made it to a large cave. The mouth of the cave stretched as tall as a three-story house.

We scavenged around to find the building… but there were no buildings in sight.

I hinted at Naima, scanning the area. “Naima, where’s the library?”

“It’s the cave itself. Welcome to the Cave of Knowledge,” introduced Naima with open arms.

Anojin, Amada, and I exchanged a secret glance. From the outside, nothing about it resembled a library. It was simply a typical cave made by Mother Nature.

Naima led the charge and entered the cave. We followed shortly behind. The light from the sun faded away into the darkness of the empty cave.

…

The darkness was surreal. We walked into the cave, unable to see anything. We had only just entered the cavern. So, how could the rays of the sun not enter in here?

“Where’s this library?” I wondered, trying to maneuver around. “Where are the books?”

“…Just wait,” answered our tour guide, Naima.

After walking in utter darkness for a moment, we were blinded by a sudden flash of light. It reacted similarly to a motion sensor, detecting us when we were deep in the cave.

Our eyes adjusted to the stun. As my vision cleared, I stumbled upon the amount of condensed mana around us. Blue mana-infused stones embedded in the ground and walls lit the cavern.

Amada and I were mesmerized by its beauty. She dropped the sleepy Hinabe off her shoulders. We carefully walked towards a pile of blue stones in front of us.

Naima shouted, “Be careful! We’re not on the ground floor.”

Her words stopped us from moving. I felt my feet losing balance. I looked over the poor leg and witnessed multiple lower levels just under my foot.

Hinabe’s older sister began explaining about the library. “This is where we keep every spell we have stored away. Being a building for this would be horrible for society. That’s why we relocated to a cave. Because of its enormous size, it was the perfect fit for the books.”

Then, she added, “There’s another slime plant at the bottom.” She immediately tossed herself to the plant.

Watching her jump down gave everyone PTSD from earlier. She assumed we would follow behind her. If only she knew how to read a room.

Unfortunately for Naima, no one followed her. Instead, the rest of us decided to descend the usual way… the stairs!

Everyone eventually met back up at the bottom. Naima pouted towards us since no one joined her with the slime plant. She’s sticky and was upset that I'm a normal person!?

…

Bookcases covered all of the walls. They were stretched multiple meters into the air, providing a vast collection of knowledge.

“Now that we are all here, let’s find some books!” the tour guide exclaimed.

Everyone began searching for some books. Anojin took the time to search for books for his own amusement. Amada and Naima worked together to knock Hinabe to the ground, which woke her up. She then joined in to help us shortly.

We searched for almost an hour and made no progress. We searched through most of the book collections, from basic to advanced techniques, yet nothing was valuable to me.

“…Let’s see.” Naima began searching for related books. Among the collection of books, Naima pulled out an unfamiliar book. “I’ve never seen this one before.”

As she revealed the book's cover, a look of shock flashed across my face when I read the title on the book… The Secrets of the Tri-Carver.

This felt too good to be true! What were the odds of that happening!?

I snatched the book from her hands, unable to contain my excitement. I inspected the book further. The way Naima held the book covered the printed author. The author of the book read, “Satori Zapata.”

Once I realized who wrote the book, I planted my butt to the ground to get comfortable. It felt like Christmas, and I was opening my reserved present. I hastily opened the first page.

As I turned the page over, I couldn’t help but think about what Mr. Satori wrote. As his successor, he must have passed down something valuable to me, as his doppelgänger.

My eyes met the first page. My face widened as I saw what was before me, and it shocked me for the rest of the day.

…