"Ugggggghhhh...." Just as Rudra began absorbing the Spiritual power of the chain, he suddenly felt his body going berserk. The power he absorbed through the chains was very volatile. When the power came into contact with the Spiritual power inside his body, it suddenly turned wild. It was as if Rudra had suddenly dropped a small chunk of sodium inside water; his body became red hot as the power ran through his body, causing destruction to everything it came across.
'If I don't get this out of my body now, I will be dead in a matter of minutes.' Rudra could tell that there was no way he would be able to calm the power down, because his own power and the power he had absorbed had no compatibility. He sat down cross-legged once more. This time, even though he was in great pain, he slowly started expelling the power inside his body. In the process, he started feeling hot liquid flowing out from most of the orifices of his body.
"HAH HAH HAH... That was stupid of me. I almost destroyed the entirety of my body because of my greed. I still lack so much knowledge of this world; my next goal after this should be gaining intel about the workings of this world." Rudra self-deprived himself for his greed since childhood; he had a habit of biting more than he could chew. However, this was a new world, just like earlier, he had almost died again. Rudra finally decided that before doing anything else, he had to gain more knowledge of the world; he was thinking of joining an academy for that.
"I need to somehow control my greed as well. There is no time for more thinking. Let's find a way of getting out of this place first." Rudra thought as he started moving along the chains. Even though he was still feeling the pain, he didn't take a rest; rather, he kept on moving forward. He was feeling a little dizzy because he had lost a lot of blood.
.....
Rudra traveled along the chain for a long time. As he was able to move his body as freely as he wanted, he just had to think of moving, and he was able to move. So, because of that, he was able to travel at a speed that he had only experienced while travelling in a bullet train. Even at that speed, it took him a long time.
"Why are the chains shrinking? The change was so minuscule that I didn't even notice until now." Rudra thought as he examined the chains that were starting to sink, although they/// had only sunk a little, he was still left bewildered. No one knew how much time had passed at this point; however, the chains were now the size of his arms. Although the size had decreased, Rudra could feel the same amount of Spiritual power inside the chains.
"Finally..." Rudra exclaimed as he was finally able to see the end. He was mentally very exhausted. After finally seeing his destination in front of his eyes, he slowed his pace as he began approaching the area where the chains merged.
"Maybe, if I had gone in the opposite direction, the chains would have grown in size." Rudra speculated, he hoped he wouldn't have to find the answer for himself, though. As he approached, the chains became so thin that it was hard to see; they were now thinner than a hair. The energy never dissipated from the chains.
The individual chains suddenly started circling each other, and as a result, they formed a thick rope made out of chains. Rudra could no longer stay near the chains, as after merging, they started colliding with each other's Spiritual power. Rudra didn't want to risk anything as he maintained his distance.
The closer he went, the more 'ropes' made of chains came into his view; these ropes were going to the same area he was headed towards. Although he couldn't see clearly, he was able to tell that the chains were holding something.
As he arrived closer to the object, he was starting to feel very warm and comfortable. He could feel that the spiritual power in the ropes could no longer clash with each other. It was as if the spiritual power was no longer able to make any sort of move, or it was afraid to do so. He figured it was because of the thing they were holding.
"What is this? Is it a book?" Rudra asked himself as he finally saw the object. The book looked very ordinary; it was all black with small bits of design over its cover. Even though the design of the book didn't look that crazy, he still felt awe after looking at the beauty of the book. Most of the book was covered because the ropes surrounded it, seemed like the ropes were there to keep the book from leaving.
"So, what do I do now?" Rudra didn't know what he was supposed to do, although he had the urge to touch the book. He restrained himself this time; last time, he almost died. He didn't want to take the risk once again.
[To activate the functions of the artifact, place your hand over it.]
"What the fuc....." Rudra was dumbfounded as a blue screen suddenly popped in front of his eyes. The screen resembled, game pop-up notification. He figured that the book was trying to communicate.
"What are you? Why do you want me to touch the book?" Asked Rudra as he tried to inquire, he felt stupid trying to communicate with a book; however, he was in a world where looking at a sword can kill you. He already burned down the notion of common sense after that incident.
[I am a special assistance program created to assist in the growth of the host. I am called Book of Blasphemy. To activate the functions of the artifact, place your hand over it.]
The message once more popped up in the blue box; this time, Rudra was bewildered. It was as if he were suddenly transported to a game world. Reading the message, he fell silent for a little while as he gathered his thoughts. He tried to, but was unable to make any sense out of the situation.
"Why are you here? Why are you being imprisoned in this place?" Asked Rudra, as he still didn't want to know more about the book.
[I have been locked here for a reason I do not know.]
"Who made you? What if you harm me if I activate you?" asked Rudra, still unsatisfied with the answers he had heard until now.
[You do not have the clearance, please meet the required clearance level to know more about my creation. Harming a host is against my system rule. Harming the host will result in self-termination.]
"How can I get out of this place?" Asked Rudra as he started getting desperate.
[Calculating scenario... The possibility of you getting out is 0%. Getting out with my help is 100%.]
"Can't you sell me out without becoming your host?" Rudra asked.
[No, I cannot use most of my functions without a host]
Hearing the answer, Rudra bit his lips; he fell silent for quite a while. He didn't know if he should trust the words of something he didn't know. However, after quite a while of thinking, he finally gave in and slowly extended his hand towards the book.