| Euphoria, Phoenian Empire, the City of Phoenia, Present Day |

After traveling through the Capital District, we reach a large castle gate with a purple veil.

"M-Ma'am!" A few guards stationed at the gate salute with angst once they come into view of the Princess.

Iyuna nods her head while crossing through the veil.

—Thud

"GAH!" I hold my aching nose after I bump into something non-visible in front of me.

"Wha—?" Iyuna turns around while I claw at the veil like a lost puppy beckoning for their master.

The knight to the side of me gives a nervous laugh and points toward the entrance.

"Magic barriers are protecting some of the city's most treasured districts. Some districts require you to have a specific rank, class, or faction."

"Let her through. She's with me."

Iyuna glared at the guard that shivered as a result.

"O-of course! Release the barrier!"

The veil around the castle wall started to dematerialize.

The knight saluted towards me as I walked past.

"Thanks so much!" I ran, attempting to catch up to Iyuna waiting for me.

The buildings in this part of the city have paper walls and stone pillars supporting them. Groups of individuals in black and blue robes walk down the streets with magic runes surrounding them.

"This looks so familiar…."

Iyuna turns towards me and looks into the sky.

"Oh yes, you did come through here during the Rites, didn't you. This is the Mage District. Only certified mages are allowed to venture to this part of the city."

We reach a large area consisting of several stone pillars with stone benches surrounding the area. Bushes with black and red leaves surround a large building with large blue runic circles surrounding it. The edifice's stairs had several cloaked individuals chatting amongst themselves.

"Woah! That's a huge building!"

"Indeed. This is the Akralem Atheneum. Almost anything could be researched here as it's the biggest source of knowledge in all of Pyuula."

We walk up the stairs and enter through the opened doors of the library. Despite the dated look of the outside, the interior of the building is quite magnificent—pristine wooden floors covering the floor click with our every step. The high ceiling showcases a spectacular display of a battle between dragons and knights.

The bookcases were the most stunning of all. They towered to the ceiling like skyscrapers and seemed to never end as we continued walking down the long corridor. Books and scrolls floated above us as if they were trying to find a place to call home.

"This place is amazing!"

Iyuna, busy looking at the bookcases, ignores my praise of the enormous collection of publications.

"We're here."

I almost stumbled into Iyuna, still in awe as we stop in front of a silver-colored door.

A purple rune appears around Iyuna's hand that she hovers it above the doors centered. Many runes start to appear, twisting as if a combination was being inputted to unlock the doorway.

"Welcome… Princess Iyuna." The door spoke as it opened itself slowly.

She lowers her hand and walks through the door as I follow after her.

The room past the door is different from the library that we just ventured through. The air is cold and brisk, while the floor is made of a pearly stone with small cracks appearing every few steps. The walls were covered in books protected by silver and gold chains; The volumes were also peculiar and glowing with different colored auras.

I walk towards a book on a shelf that secreted a black aura with asphalt smoke coming from the pages.

"E… Co… —phem…" The book seemed to be whispering to me, but I couldn't figure out what it was saying.

I reach my hand forward in curiosity. The closer I got, the closure I could make out its words.

"… You probably shouldn't."

My hand reels back as I look towards Iyuna, who's at the other end of the hall.

"These books have special qualities that make them susceptible to greed. Even though they hold great power, they could consume you both mentally and physically."

My curiosity faded due to her new information. I continue forward and join her as we take a right down another corridor.

The books down this hallway all glow with white and gold auras. The chains tremble with extreme force as if they're holding back fierce entities.

"Gala al Dame, the volumes that pertain knowledge before the time of Sorcery and Alchemy."

Iyuna stops in front of a bookshelf and raises her hand toward a large book that looks as if it's about to break from its chains. Multiple white runes form around her fingers and the book draws near her hand.

"While doing physical activities can boost one's attributes, another way is learning knowledge."

She walks over to me and hands me the book. As I take it from her hand, the book glows a light gray, and the front of my hand starts to burn.

"Ah.." I wince at the pain as a small crest is burned into my palm.

Iyuna lets go of the book then holds my hand up as the crest starts to disappear.

"That crest allows you to come and go through the Mage District as you please. You'll also be able to visit the restricted section of the Akralem Atheneum."

"I don't understand, though… Why give someone like me access to such a place?"

The Princess lets go of my palm and smiles.

"A promise… I made it to someone special."

The clicking sounds from her heels fade as she starts to walk toward the end of the hall.

I find a small wooden desk and pull up a chair dropping the heavy book onto its side.

"Cah.." I let out a subtle cough as I wipe the dust from the tome.

The book has a white cover with weird symbols situated around across the border in gold coloring. Its symbols start to shift around, and I'm able to make out the volume's title.

"Arten Redia…"

As soon as I read the words, the book started to shake and flipped open. I turn the page as more weird symbols start to merge into readable text.

The Table of Context is quite vague, but it seems like this book talks about 'Soli Vostus' and other trivia. I flip to the next page with a long paragraph with a picture of a wyvern-looking creature is shown.

"Long ago, there was a being known as Soli Vostus, known as the creator. His dream was to forge a weapon that rivaled no other… He traveled the world researching different monsters, sword techniques, and weaponry to no avail."

The page flips as if it knows I've finished reading the passage prior.

"He met a beautiful young woman named Usla who had long white hair and eyes of crimson. She was a lonely maiden that wished to be loved by someone with a kind heart. She said that she could forge such a weapon, and her only wish was to be loved by Soli for eternity. They got wedded, and immediately after, the woman went straight to work."

The next page flips as I end the sentence.

"A large sword made of brilliant steel that glowed a radiant red was made by the young woman. The man, however, had greater plans and asked his loving wife to make several weapons with special properties along with parchments that could seal beings within the page. Fourteen weapons with strong attributes were created, one of which was named the Calamity."

The page flips, but this one had text that gleamed red and had an ominous aura.

"The man struck the ground with the Calamity, and a large tree with black bark and red leaves grew from the ground. Once it was fully sprouted, it releases glimmering energy known as Kumei or Mana. The day this tree was grown would be known as Vertanome, 'The Beginning of Divination.' Many could not handle the outburst of Kumei and died in the thousands; Usla pleaded with Soli that he stopped using the Calamity, but he refused."

"Despite her pleads, Soli dug the sword deeper into the earth. However, his hand couldn't let go of the handle, and he was swallowed into the darkened soil beneath the tree. Usla fell to her knees and asked the tree to not take her husband away with tears dropping into the soil below her. The pure tears of sadness made the soil turn back to normal. The trees' bark turned white, and the leaves were turned to a gold texture."

"The man's hand came from the earth, but it was darkened and extruded a red aura. His face was dismantled with his skull being shown. His wife backed away from the monster he became; He grabbed the Calamity and ran off, never to be seen again."

"The people of Euphoria stopped dying, with some learning to hone their Kumei and make use of it many different ways such as Kuma, 'Spells,' and Kume, 'Skills.' Usla hid the fourteen weapons away, except for one that was named 'Ouray.' However, some parts of the soil, still darkened from the Calamity, started to sprout beasts and vicious monsters. While most were easy to manage with their new abilities, some with dark-metallic bodies were unphased by Kuma and ravaged the land."

The next page turned and displayed a woman holding a long sword with a blue crystal-like blade attached to a white hilt.

"… Usla held Ouray into the air and threw it into the ground. Different types of ores with brilliant glows grew from the earth. 'Take these metals and make weapons like no other,' she proclaimed. The ores shined so brightly that some beasts ran into caves, dungeons, and tunnels to hide from the divine light of the sword. The lady took the blade and vanished; Known to the people of this world as… 'Goddess Usla.'

With my final words, the book slammed closed. The writing on the back gleamed in white.

My eyes blink as I caress the back of the book.

"… I might need to read that over again… I didn't get any of that—EEP."

—Creak

Just as I was about to flip the book over for another read, the door from the entrance cracked open.

. . .