Merath approached the seal and inspected it. "Interesting. This seal feels familiar." Merath noted, looking at seemingly nothing. He lightly tapped his staff on the air, and the entire scene changed. Suddenly, they were in a large, open clearing. The ground was actually dirt for once, not just a mess of endless vines and branches reinforced with wood.
There was a stone path which led to a large cottage. Though large for a cottage, it was still a cottage, and therefore a rather small home, especially for a man of Alton's status. Lumi added context. "This was his personal home, where he lived with the girl he loved."
"I never had the pleasure of visiting his home when he was alive," Merath replied, and sighed softly. "I am curiously looking forward to when you can tell me what you know. That day will come, yes?"
Lumi affirmed. "Yes."
Merath seemed content with that. "Alright." He lightly raised his staff, an aura of pulsing mana scanning the area. Seemingly satisfied, he asked Lumi, "What was it that you wanted, telling me this, showing me this?"
Lumi knew Merath wasn't a fool, and more importantly, is on the side of good. So he resolutely replied, "Ultimately, my ultimate goal is to defeat the Dark One."
"To further that goal, getting closer to someone as powerful as you is its own reward."
"Secondly, the information held here may assist in advancing magic, whether it be as a whole, your own understanding, or otherwise answer historical questions we've never had the answers to. Increasing the power of all sentient races allied for good furthers my mission."
"Third, I would like to follow in the footsteps of Alton, starting my path as a Magician, using his beginner notes and spells as my Rank One."
"The Dark One." Merath repeated the name, thoughtful about the implications. "You had a unique encounter with his power, and now swear revenge."
Lumi gave a nod and responded to him, "That is correct."
"I do not understand." Merath pieced together the pieces, but there were still many parts which didn't make sense. "You clearly have the talent and much knowledge. You have the ambition to be a magician. Why have I seen you use no spells?"
Lumi responded honestly, "I have yet to walk a path, so I cannot."
The statement made no sense. And yet, it was exactly that detail that gave Merath clues.
"Interesting. Yet then, forget it." Merath sighed. "Nevertheless, bringing me here is a great feat. You will have to be rewarded. I can give you any information on his spells that we find inside, yet that is not sufficient reward. We can talk about this later. I will go ahead and explore the insides. Will you come with me?"
"Yes." Lumi nodded.
The two entered the home, finding a rather ordinary scene. Despite not having been lived in for hundreds of years, it seemed like the owners had just stepped out for a second. There were opened books, chairs out of position, even some garbage in the bins. None of it was rotten.
Merath made his way to a small door, which he tapped with his staff. It opened to reveal a stone staircase downwards. With Merath providing light in the form of several orbs, the two made their way down. Now here there were countless more books than upstairs, rows and rows of bookshelves. This lab was at least twenty times larger than the entirety of the home above.
"Scan." Merath spoke softly, his magic spreading out every single book hovering in the sky as he took in some of the information, then they were put back in place.
"Alton was once my student." Merath spoke softly, with a sigh. "I was much less important back then, and he was but a boy. I had nothing left to teach him in less than a year, and he set off."
Merath grimaced for a second, before returning to normal. "I admit I am eager to learn the specifics of what had happened to him. As for you…" He floated a few books over. "These contain his understanding of the basics of magic, and basic spells of his creation and use."
Lumi got closer.
[Class Advancement Opportunity Detected]
[Would you like to advance your class to: "Hero of Light: First Light"?]
Lumi glanced at Merath for a second, then back at the books.
After Lumi ascertained that was indeed what he wanted, his vision went white for a second, before returning to normal.
In an instant, everything had changed.
[Name: Lumi]
[Class: Hero of Light]
[HP: 208]
[MP: 157]
Under his skills panel, an entire new section had opened up.
[Rank One: First Light]
And underneath were skills. Mostly spells, but it included certain other things like affinities, too.
And these are actually useful. Unlike the garbage for beginner skills, I still have five unused skill points for beginner rank. There is simply nothing useful there.
He immediately sat down and began reading. It wasn't just optics to show Merath that he was reading, he was genuinely interested in what insights Alton had to offer. Sure, this information was useless for now as he couldn't cast spells without the assistance of the system, and he himself was an expert magician whose knowledge was far beyond the majority of masters.
Still.
Not only was every piece of knowledge useful…
This was Alton.
Long ago, the Dark One threatened the world. He was defeated and sealed away by a band of heroes, and Alton was one of them.
Alton was much closer to defeating the Dark One for good than anyone alive today.
Lumi got to work, reading. Luckily for him, even though he couldn't use magic to increase the speed in which he took in information yet, he still had a swift natural reading pace.
About two thousand words per minute, with full comprehension. With that in mind, he figured he could afford some time to read the words of this world class expert.
..
As he read, at some point, Lumi had ended up teleported back to Merath'slibrary where he continued to read.These insights would further improve his foundation which would be crucial for when he finally freed himself from the system.
After all, though that same location was found in his past life, indeed, this was the same exact class he picked in his last life, he never read these books.
Why would he? He didn't know at the time what would end up happening.
After a few hours, after he finished all the books, he sat up. Looking around, he was in one of the many private reading sections of the library. He left, slowly climbing down, until he was finally at the base once again.
"Great Merath," he started, presenting the books he had been given. "The books."
Merath took them back within his magic. Though it was already implied, he spoke, "Whenever you want to read them once more, or will move on to further ranks, come freely."
However, Lumi had other ideas.
A secret class… that is something many players would be interested in.
Lumi inquired, "I wonder, Merath, if you would consider letting others learn this knowledge?"
Merath didn't hesitate. "Of course, that is not a problem. But I will not offer it publicly as a path to take. There is nothing forbidden or especially special about the knowledge, the issue is, it's one man's path. Though he reached the peak, that was due to his own genius. It is missing the robustness of the paths of today."
Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "What did you have in mind?"
Lumi explained, "There are others like me and Lena. Not in the knowledge I hold, but similar in nature. Bound, as you say. I wonder if you would consider letting them go on the path of Light if they asked?"
Merath took a moment to ponder the information he just received. Afterwards, he waved his hand to push off Lumi's concerns. "The same rules apply to everyone. Have a pure heart and register with me. As long as they pass, I have no qualms."
Seeing Merath so agreeable, Lumi pushed further. "I have an idea, but I wonder if you will agree. Could we make it so that you will only teach this path to those who have a token from me?"
Merath immediately frowned. "For what purpose? Financial gain?"
Lumi let out a wry smile. "Yes." Yes, that was indeed his purpose. But there was more to it than just that. Something he could say…
Merath shook his said, "Though you deserve a great reward for what you brought me to, I will not allow you to monopolize and commercialize knowledge, even less so under my name."
He seemed a bit disappointed, yet still continued, "If you seek money, I can grant you that directly. Would you like a hundred million gold pieces?"
Lumi took a step back, putting a hand out, "Wait, you misunderstand me! That is not the type of gain I mean."
That made Merath pause, then reply, "You will use it to leverage favors and connections as a form of finance instead?"
Lumi couldn't directly say it was dollars, a currency from earth. So he replied, "Although those may be in the plan, money is still my second highest motivator. Though, I wouldn't be able to use what you could give me."
Merath listened, and asked his first priority. "And the first?"
Lumi looked up directly to Merath. "The conclusions this request and conversation will make you reach."
There was a long silence between them. Merath stared straight into Lumi's eyes as the two shared a stare.
"Come here." Merath shined his staff, teleporting Lumi into his grasp, in which he held up Lumi in front of him with magic.
Lumi felt foreign magic invade inside of him, breaching every inch of him. It started simple, pouring through his holes, but then it further went through his pores, cells, and more.
The pain was excruciating. It was as though every part of Lumi's being, both physical and immaterial, was being flipped inside out, examined, and recorded.
Lumi was forced to close his eyes and grit his teeth.
This is okay. I like this, actually. This is good. He's going to do a more indepth scan on me. Because I am suspicious. He has trusted me so far only because he trusts his magic.
But I am just too suspicious. Something IS going on. And he intends to verify further before agreeing to anything.
Yet Lumi stayed calm. He had nothing to hide. In fact, he hoped every secret would be revealed.
Merath's expression remained unreadable as the spell reached its climax.
Then, silence.