Level Up Legacy

1403  Fighting Using Souls

"He has been consumed, utterly," Arthur said, not in disgust, but in sympathy. He could tell that the writer of these words was fighting against the touch of envy. Of course, he allowed it inside, but who was he to judge while carrying the sin of wrath? "My brother was never the strongest when it came to outside influence," the Queen said as she let go of her daughter and caressed her green hair with a smile. "He was easily corrupted, manipulated, and used to achieve the goals of others." "His weakness is the reason behind his fall, but not an excuse," Arthur said as he closed the diaries with a frown. "I will give him a quick death." "…That is more kindness than I can ask for, but I want to handle this on my own," the Queen said with a shake of her head. "We agreed that you would fight against Famine, but my brother wasn't a part of the deal." "There was no deal to begin with," Arthur said. "I came here to help Janea, and now I'm here to do just that. Furthermore, the moment Dia got involved, it got personal." "But we still don't know where they are," Tiara interjected, looking at her mother. "Is there a way for us to find them?" "My brother researched many things. I wish to find something that could lead us—or give us a clue at the very least—in order to find them." "We have to look here?" asked Tiara as she looked at the countless bookshelves, each one lined with books, scrolls, and even records of his own research. "How long would it take?" "I hoped to find something before the Creator arrives," her mother said with a smile. "But since he is here, how about we ask him to use one of his runes?" Arthur gave her a stiffened smile. "You want me to absorb the knowledge in this library?" "Is it not possible?" Tiara asked, confused. Her mother chuckled. "The Creator is worried about the knowledge he would absorb. Not all knowledge is good, after all," her mother said. "He is afraid it would change him somewhat." "I might relate to the Dark Prince more than I would like," Arthur said. "But I have no other choice but to use it, don't I?" A rune appeared on his hand, brimming with light but releasing a feeling of vacuum. It settled into his hand like a void, seeking to absorb everything in its path. Arthur walked toward the shelves and aimed his rune at the books. [Do you wish to absorb this knowledge?] [Accept / Reject] [Warning: A great knowledge is detected in the periphery. Absorption will take a while to be done and might result in confusion, memory loss, and unconsciousness.] 14:08

[Warning: A great knowledge is detected in the periphery. Absorption will take a while to be done and might result in confusion, memory loss, and unconsciousness.] His legacy gave him a warning of the side effects that Arthur already knew about. The consumption of knowledge at any given moment would take a toll on one's mind. The legacy could facilitate the process in order to make the knowledge a stream instead of a gushing river, but he would nonetheless be overwhelmed. "Accept," Arthur assented with a nod. The rune turned into threads of golden mana that spread throughout the library. It touched each book, recording the intent and knowledge contained within it. Then, the threads began pulsing as the knowledge traveled toward Arthur. Each pulse came with a wave of information that Arthur needed to sort out. The knowledge was imprinted into his mind with unbearable pain, almost tearing his head apart. It was raw, unfiltered, and random. Arthur closed his eyes to sort through the streams of knowledge. Each second was filled with taboo knowledge, recorded experiments, and diaries of the Dark Prince. "How did it go?" asked Tiara as Arthur opened his eyes. "Did you find a clue?" "Not yet…" Arthur said with a shake of his head. "I just need to rest a little before I keep going. The pain… is too much," he said while holding his head. Tiara nodded before raising her hands. Arthur was surprised to feel a stream of warmth wash over his head. He saw the princess using her own mana to ease his pain. She flashed him a smile. "We are a team, right?" "Right," he answered. "Let's keep going then." The Queen helped as well to comb through the books, looking for clues or just helping Arthur ease the pain that he felt from absorbing too much knowledge. The three of them spent a few hours before they found something. "The Dark Prince was… researching the Spirit Realm?" Arthur muttered in confusion as he snapped his eyes open and looked at the Queen. "Are you aware of that?" "The Spirit Realm?" muttered the Queen. "I had no idea. Is it possible that he fell not to his demise, but to the Spirit Realm where he retained his soul?" "It would explain how he managed to avoid the Curse of Yggdrasil," Tiara nodded in agreement. "I heard that the Spirit Realm lacks physical bodies and simply has souls. If that's the case, it would explain how he can move after turning to wood." "And it would explain where the rescue team went," Arthur added with a frown. "I never assumed that I would go back to the Spirit Realm in this manner, nor did I assume it would connect to Famine." "Did you visit that realm before?" asked the Queen with surprise. "I did, but not in this timeline," Arthur said with a shake of his head. "Most spirits should have retained their memories across timelines, but I don't know if things are different there at the moment. I had planned to visit the Spirit Realm anyway." "For what reason?" Tiara asked. "In order to sneak into the Kingdom of Gods during the Divine Selection," Arthur said with a grin. "I wanted to see if my friend, the Spirit Sovereign, would be capable of helping me." "I will come with you," Tiara said with a frown. "It's my responsibility to have brought you here with Diana. And my people are involved too." "I understand," Arthur nodded. "It looks like it's time to fight using our souls."