The book, The Chronicles of Aether, started off as any other religious brainwashing book does. It talked about how Aether is the energy that was left by this primordial god who created the universe. The surprising part was that the book's language suggested that there were multiple universes out there. And connecting these universes is Aether.
The book described Aether as a form of energy that could be used by any living creature to enhance itself. The energy itself is so potent that it could give the wielder supernatural powers. The book didn't mention what kind of powers, but it did mention that powers were something along the lines of getting control of supernatural forces.
There was a lot of stuff in the book that didn't make sense to him, because some of the stuff was straight-up redacted. There were thick lines of ink that hid some of the text in the book. These thick lines produced waves when touched, and when he did touch them, a system message saying his level was too low would pop up.
It was beyond him why a level determines what kind of knowledge one would be able to access. But that has been one of the commandments of Dreamscape, so he didnt much of it.
The interesting and most important part of Aether came at the end of the book.
The book described Aether as this energy, expanding outward from the centre of the universe. It is constantly going through new worlds, spreading its influence through the worlds that it passes.
When passing through these worlds, Aether help the occupants of the world to get acquainted with its energy.
How? It didn't it mention.
But Karan knew the answer; he was sitting in it, The Dreamscape.
It was a very absurd idea that an energy that is coming to Earth created a dream world through which people can get acquainted with Aether. But looking at the Dreamscape, it made sense.
The Library was full of books which mention Aether in their names. The people who can access The Dreamscape seem to be random. And the whole hunting in the forest to earn time, it made sense because Aether is forcing people to adapt.
And Karan had a strong feeling that maybe Tamika, who was sitting in front of him, had actually read the book. Which is why she was recruiting him in the first place…
"The Librarian?" Karan asked, feigning ignorance.
Tamika smiled, "Did you level up? And were you able to get inside the library?"
Karan shook his head, "No.. I couldn't kill anything,"
Tamika smiled, "The Library that I mentioned.. is in Dreamscape. I want you to categorise all the knowledge that is inside the place. And create a directory for me."
Karan leaned in, "You want me to read books.. And categorise the knowledge." He genuinely didnt understand why she would want him for the job.
There was no way that she knew who he was; based on what she knew, there was no particular reason why she would want him. She could find anyone else to do the job, but she came specifically for him. And he couldn't understand why.
"Ma'am.. I am honoured.. but this job.." He seemed reluctant, so she answered his question.
"You must be thinking that this job is beneath you, right?"
Karan slowly nodded his head, showing that he was afraid to say no to her. She passed him a smile and said, "I have come to some information about Dreamscape. And based on the informations we need to copy all the knowledge we can from the Dreamscape."
"Okay.." Karan said, still acting unsure.
Tamika then continued, "Now, if I were to snap my fingers, I think I would be able to pull people from our side of the city to do my bidding. But do you know why I chose you, Doctor?"
Why did you?
He shook his head gently, and she continued, "I choose you because you have what my family cannot provide." He looked confused, making her lean back.
She continued, "You have the slums under your finger."
What? It was then that it clicked. Karan had forgotten how much influence his name has in the slums.
"You are a magical worker," Tamika said, "You cure the poor, and for that, people are very grateful. If you were to gather a group of individuals who could go to Dreamscape, no one would bat an eye. But I did something like that, which would gather a lot of attention. Now do you get it?"
Karan understood, "You want me to gather more people like us, for your cause. This will the spotlight would not fall on you."
She smiled, "Correct. You see, doctor, there is still a rather large number of people who don't know anything about Dreamscape and what it could offer. I intend to gather people under me, create a group that would be untouchable when the real storm hits the fan."
"Real storm?" He asked.
She smiled, "You don't need to worry about that. You just need to know this: I want you to create the list of people who could enter the Dreamscape. I want people who could be of use to me. And your job is to create a team that could transcribe every book in the library into a private server of mine,"
"Ma'am.. I…"
"And did I mention the pay that you are gonna get?" She said while smiling, like a beast that had a prey in their sight…