Knowledge Thief

History Lessons - 1

After entering the city, Gin went straight to the shrine. She thought that any new champion would first go to find out their power. So, she first went to the shrine. Gin wanted to add the new champion to their ranks to ensure that he could help their leader. Gin was fairly confident that she could convince the champion to support them. If nothing goes according to plan, she could use Mana as a trump-card.

Unlike all the other structures in the city, the shrine was located atop a mountain and it was a fair distance away from the bustling center. As Gin walked halfway up the mountain, she saw the top 0f the spiral shrine in the distance. The shrine was created using white marble and was shaped like a bullet. Its shiny exterior was modelled in such a way that it would shine bright in moonlight. It stood like a shining silver bullet atop the mountain.

Even though Gin has come to the shrine before, she couldn’t help but stand and admire its mesmerizing beauty now. Gin slowly made her way into the shrine. The shrine did not have a lavish interior. At the center of the shrine was a small pool filled with water from the magic spring. She saw the priestess sitting in front of the pool and praying.

Gin lowered her scarf, went near the priestess and bowed humbly. She then enquired, ‘Ma’am, has anyone visited the shrine within the last two hours?’

The priestess didn’t answer. Gin knew that it would be tough to get an answer from the priestess but she prodded again, ‘Ma’am, can you please give me some direction. Please understand that it is very important for me to know.’

The priestess turned to look at her. She had a blank expression. She simply answered, ‘No’ and then turned back to continue her prayer.

‘Thank you very much, Ma’am’ said Gin as she stepped back and returned outside the shrine. Gin was confused by this development. She was fairly confident that any new champion would come to the shrine first, but she was wrong. She couldn’t understand what to do and slowly started to make her way down the mountain.

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As Lee disappeared from their eyes, Elvie directed her attention to Mana.

'I thought that you would never come back from granny's place.'

'Let's say there was a situation. So, how's it going in the city nowadays?'

'It's becoming increasingly bad. The ruling family has started to impose more taxes and they are treating those who don't pay badly. Add to the fact that there is no new revenue. I don't think this is going to be good' sighed Elvie.

'Hmm... Maybe it will all change soon.'

'You are joking, right. Who will go against the ruling family? They have a champion, who do we have?' asked Elvie in a sarcastic tone.

Mana didn't answer her as she was deep in some thoughts.

'Anyways, would he be OK? He was strolling confidently' asked Elvie in an attempt to change the subject.

Mana nodded and replied, 'I have a feeling he will be completely OK.'

The subject of their conversation, Lee, was currently scanning the rows to look at the books. Most of the books in the rows were individual histories on the four previous champions, the ruling houses and the territories. He felt a headache when he understood that he has to do the Himalayan task of consolidating the truth from these grossly exaggerated biographies. However, he wasn't deterred because he has done something similar in his previous life as a copywriter. So, he started to read the books in a batch of twelve.

 Lee sat down on the spare desk with a dozen books and took the most basic one and started to read it. He took around four hours to complete the books and then started to devour the next batch. To his surprise, Lee had finished the second batch by around an hour. Part of it was because the books had some similar content, but part of it was because his understanding dramatically improved.

At first, he couldn't understand the written language that easily, and hence struggled to get through the pages. However, he gradually got accustomed to it and completed the first book in an hour. When he started the second book, he felt even more comfortable in understanding the history of the world. He also didn't feel the need to take a break or feel tired in processing this amount of information.

'Hmm... Maybe these are the benefits of a champion' thought Lee. But he didn't spend much time thinking about it and went back to devouring the rows. He had finished the whole row in eight hours and gained a fair understanding of the world.

To start with, this world was named Darwin. Like the creation of life on Earth, there were also many theories that surround the creation of sentient life in Darwin. The most popular theory is that Darwin was initially a wasteland of corrosive energy, which is dubbed the Great Devour.

A superior being from another world landed on this world and started to create a small colony of people that could stave off the Great Devour. This being is idolized as Adev and worshipped even now by some factions. This colony started to expand with the help of the being, and gradually the descendants of the being started colonizing five major territories of the land.

Somewhere down the line, the territories were threatened by a new race of beings called the Devourers. These beings were beasts that could manipulate the corrosive energy. The specific cause of the same is up for debate as some books state that the world started to fight back because the families were misusing its resources, while some books says that it was because of the experiments of Adev. When all the territories were overrun, the families sought the help of Adev, who sacrificed his ethereal body to create a portal in the form of an everlasting magical spring.

It is widely stated in most of the books that Adev prohibited the families to summon a warrior through the portal as he wished the families to regain the territories through their own strengths. The families first summoned Kong, a blacksmith champion. Through his help, they waged a great war and reclaimed the first territory. The books state Kong could make high-quality weapon and armor from any material in a short period.

After reclaiming the first territory, the families suffered a heavy death toll when they moved on to the second territory. Understanding that the warriors under them were fatigued and tired, the leaders summoned the next hero who was a priest. Aldos, who had been a priest in a magical kingdom, was summoned to help the families reclaim the second territory.

The third territory was held by a tough devourer captain, who had killed many fine warriors. For the third territory, the families wanted the need of an assassin who could infiltrate enemy lines and provide a plan to kill the toughest captain. Hence they summoned Sheila, a nimble spy. The books stated that more than one family did not acknowledge Sheila as a champion when she was summoned. She was also ridiculed by most of the warriors, but the first family supported her and she was sent on the mission. With her help, the families reclaimed the territory in just a few days.

In the fourth territory, the families had to face a mage who was highly adept in handling the Great Devour through his psychic energy. Hence, they summoned a mage who was highly adept in creating barriers. His name was Samus and he could protect thousands of warriors from any kind of external force, even the Great Devour, with his barriers. He can also entrap enemies in his barriers and kill them. With his help, the families easily reclaimed the fourth territory.

The families had to face a goliath devourer in the fifth territory. This goliath devourer was called Lilith the immortal as it had the power to regenerate from any injury or poison within seconds. The families had been pushed back and was on the verge of losing the dire fight when the first family summoned a strong warrior. Idhun, the strongest warrior, was summoned. Idhun was so strong that he killed the goliath in a single blow.  A feat that thousands of warriors had failed to do.

The families won the territories but Adev was unhappy that they summoned a warrior and hence banished them from summoning anyone again. Although the families were sad that they went against Adev, they were also happy that they could live peacefully. Peace had prospered since then in the world and there hadn't been any summon since then. The five territories are now been ruled by the five ruling families.

While Lee revised the short history of the world after reading the books, a stout man came and sat in front of him. Lee looked at the man curiously. He was well dressed and had a wide grin on his face. Lee could spot a tint of curiosity in his face but since there wasn't any malice or sarcasm, he smiled back at him.

'Hi, my name is Lee.'

'Yeah, I know. I am Souza and I have been watching you read for quite some time. I have to say, I am impressed that you could read this much within this short time' exclaimed Souza.

Lee gave a shy grin.

'Oh... Actually Mana and Elvie sent me here to help you and escort you to the inn when you are done. The library would close in around half an hour' added Souza.

Lee gave an understanding nod and shifted his gaze to the books, but he got an idea. Books could only help to an extent, and they don't give an idea on the current state of the world. He thought he could get a feel of the world from Souza and hence started to ask, 'Can you tell me about this world?'

Souza looked confused and asked 'About this world? Are you from someplace far?'

Lee quickly answered 'Actually, I had forgot about the world and most of the stuff due to an accident. So, is it possible to give me details about this world?'

'Oh! That's why? I thought you were some otherworldly being or a champion or something' answered a relieved Souza.

Lee nervously laughed and said 'What? Me! A champion? Come on, you must be joking'

And they both started to laugh out loud. Lee in relief, and Souza in amusement.