Mao and Ling seem unhurried now, as the cart cruises through the cathedral halls within shockingly clear water.

But something doesn’t seem right.

I can’t help but notice that we aren’t heading back through the open doors we came through. Instead, we seem to head deeper through the structure, through a back passageway that leads back out of this building.

… why is it taking such a roundabout way out of here?

I know the shadowy water creatures are around, but could they actually be a threat? Or could there be another reason for the strange path of this vehicle…

Either way, this doesn’t seem to be the place and time to use my abilities to investigate an obviously strange situation, as the two beside me are acting completely normal.

Just the level of sensing I’m using now tells me that this is one of those situations where more knowledge could cause many more headaches.

While in a bubble covered cart. In a high-pressure underwater environment.

I could definitely keep us alive; it would NOT be a pleasant experience for them. I’d be fine, though, with my body.

But maybe they have their own ways of surviving this, considering their… strange situation with their twin pair. No need for us to test it and our relationship, though, to find out.

This scenic route is certainly educational, as I can see the murals of the landscape this building hailed from. Flat plains with rolling hills. Plentiful grasses and fantastical creatures. Stereotypical kings, queens, and sages.

Reminds me a lot of a medieval Europe.

Wait a second. Some of these seem a little too close to the magical fantasy themes.

Does that mean this civilization used mana?

The thought of that made me stop the cart, with Mao and Ling looking at me curiously.

“I’ve never seen something like this before. Do you mind if I stay here for a bit?”

Both of them get strangely excited about me showing interest in this. In different ways.

“Y-Yes! Of course. Let us know if you need anything, as we know this area pretty well. We will respect your privacy and keep any research you do here confidential, unless you ask us to do otherwise. As per the normal librarian guidelines.”

Ling practically yelps out the words before turning red and quiet.

Considering how close to home this lead is and the sheer coincidence that that they chose this place as one to check some books at… it feels extraordinarily suspicious.

I immediately use a higher-level scan on this situation.

But the answer is simple.

Scattered all over this ruin are other examples of this. I would have found plenty of examples that reference such things.

In terms of the two here, they are looking to further the relationship between us and show themselves as useful. Especially since I helped their group and only asked for their people to do their job, albeit more directly.

Adding to that, the fact Ling is definitely interested in me, she wants to use the time to get to know me better. Her sister, Mao, probably just wants to support her since this is new for her.

And as they mentioned, librarians are contractually obligated to keep the secrets of those they help, unless there is a clear threat to the library. What they can disclose is what you checked ‘out’ of the library and took with you.

So, as long as you do everything within it, you are safe.

But that doesn’t mean you are unobserved. My scan shows me the most obvious surveillance device near us. The cart.

While the library organization (and specifically the local branch, the Eldritch Enclave, who runs this sect’s library) won’t share anything, the local organization (the Eldritch Enclave) will still have the record of what I’ve been doing.

And now I see why some people go off into the waters without the cart. If they have the skill and durability, of course.

A quick look at the two of them tells me it probably wouldn’t go over well to tell them to leave. So, it would be best to do a surface level investigation and ‘dive deeper’ at a later time.

“Thanks, I think I might want to explore this whole area a bit more, if possible. Is there a way to just roam this part of the library?”

Ling nods her head quickly before setting it on a route. In the meantime, I’ve already lowered my scan back down to normal levels, so that I don’t set off any of those knowledge alarms that I sensed earlier.

The area around here seems to be mainly focused on that civilization, so I have her set it around here. We roam the area aimlessly and while I’m looking around, I’m actually using my other senses to observe more of the story.

What’s quite interesting is that I see several other murals in this area detailing the fall of their civilization. Not all at once, but city by city.

Considering I’m in a ruin, I’m not surprised by that.

But it’s the how that scares me.

Cultivators and sank this city deep underground and drowned it in water. A medieval society, completely wiped out by cultivators with sinkholes of biblical proportions. A terrifying way to die.

In terms of the mana tie in, the murals don’t give enough information to suggest that it was a magical society, but the illustrations of battles and their hierarchies are just close enough to make me wonder.

With these ruins, it was clear they built their society with only a small amount of individuals holding power. While this may not seem suspicious to some, qi can be used by anyone. Despite the current society still having hierarchies, people can still grow and take power in some form.

But in this one, only a few people were in power and were showing any abilities.

Which is the key difference between qi and mana. You don’t have to have talent in order to use and become a cultivator. You may be terrible at it and it can take your entire life just to reach the first stage of Qi Condensation, but you can still do it. At worst, you could become a terrible body cultivator, without a specific method or technique.

Mana is different. You have to be born with the ability to use it. And it tends to show up in bloodlines, rather than at random. Adding to that, it was rare on this planet, leading it to have a major concentration of power in certain places.

I don’t believe anyone else would have noticed this difference, based on what’s shown here. Adding that it is from millions of years back, only the ancients would know of mana.

What is more shocking… is that this lasted for this long. Why was it preserved? And was the library organization purposefully preserving this for a reason? And how did they move an entire city here?

I feel like more questions were raised rather than answered here.

Either way, I’ve found what I wanted here.

“Sorry for the wait. I think I’ve explored enough of here. This is a truly remarkable space, having so many ancient ruins here.”

To my surprise, Mao is the one that seems most engaged by my statement.

“Right? Seeing all the different ancient cultures and learning their history, seeing their rise and fall, and holding the proof of their existence in my hands… there’s nothing else like it.”

At her words, Ling seems to hold a soft smile towards her sister. This mustn’t be the first time she’s transitioned into a passion rant on this subject. Hence her next words.

“Now, now, sister. We don’t want to bore him with other information.”

But I love passion rants…

“Actually, I enjoy hearing about people’s passions and learning more about them. And since we will be in this cart for a bit, I think we have a bit of time.”

Which prompts the biggest look of betrayal I’ve ever seen from Ling. To where I question my decision.

But it’s far too late for that, as conversely, I can practically see hearts in the eyes of Mao.

She actually grasps my hands.

“Really?!!”

“Y-yeah.”

Too late now.

And that’s how for the next twenty minutes, as we moved towards the transition area to the outer court, that I learned more of the history of the exact culture I spent all this time studying. But with nothing really new learned, as my scan and fantasy had already filled in the gaps for me. Just without references to mana, more information on the hierarchal structure and theories on how there were likely controls on the population to prevent qi practice.

Still pretty interesting stuff.

So, I nodded my head and listened all the way through. All the way through, Ling gave off looks like she was dying.

I found this much more hilarious than I should have.

But all good things end, as found ourselves at a massive silo that plummeted deeper into dark open waters. She falls silent and even Ling focuses in.

Whatever this is, is not a joking thing.

The transition to the protected outer court section of this underwater area.