Chapter 141: 142. Beholder Jury

Books!

So many wonderful books spilled from thousands upon thousands of shelves. Enormous walls rising further than the eye could see offered their knowledge for a fleeting figure that rushed through countless ever-changing stairwells and shuffling floors in search of their one perfect book.

Trailing shortly behind was a timid girl who clutched onto a comedically large book by her chest. She followed Jury along, her mouth uttering soundless words as they were engulfed in a mesmerizing sea of text.

“Your one perfect book is somewhere amongst them!” The Archivist cried in a muted voice, translated only by the passing text that was highlighted amongst the open books. “U-Um! Good luck! Please keep reading the texts as they come!”

It was also through these texts that the contents of the Archivist’s dearest book were communicated to her. However random and jumbled the words were on every page of every conceivable book; the odds of creating a coherent passage that matched the contents of that book were never zero.

Frost’s story is about a lost world. Both the Archivist and Frost came from that world. She even used to be a mercenary… I think. At least that’s what the Archivist thinks. But why does it all sound so familiar? Her… or his story.

The Archivist gently pried the pages open and desperately kept her eyes sealed shut to prevent herself from reading a single word. In the meantime, Jury picked up the pace and dashed up and down beautiful wooden staircases and ran across balconies that hung kilometers above.

And that was only from the nearest floor beneath. The Eternal Library was a near endless space, and while it theoretically had its limit, one would have to spend an eternity to reach one end to the other.

Where civilization was on its last few bastions. A world of magic that suddenly came to the brink after some unforeseen event occurred. It reads just like a diary. A recollection of the past. Not the future… I don’t think.

The lighting was warm and somehow felt encouraging as Jury’s heart ticked with each second spent scouring the library for a book that resonated with her. A blue light steadily formed in what appeared to be the center of the library as Jury spent what felt like days on end running as fast as she could.

On occasion a floating book would deliver warm tea, cookies, and a fluffy blanket for Jury to rest. The passage of time had no meaning here, but Jury never stopped counting the ticks of her beating heart.

Because each tick was a second that passed without Frost by her side.

Time is weird. The timeline of Frost’s story and the Archivist doesn’t make any sense. Frost was alive on Earth. So why does the Archivist remember that version of Frost? Why does Frost also remember that strange world? How did they meet in the first place?

The Library never experienced nights or days.

Its ever-changing nature only made it increasingly difficult to understand which way was up or down, left, or right. At some point Jury and the Archivist were running on a plane that ran upside down to the rest of the world, and other times they traversed a floor that ran parallel to the rising shelves.

… And why do ‘I’ also know about that world. Is it because of the Black Forest? A starless sky matches the Black Forest. But at the same time… I can’t help but remember the warmth associated with this text.

Magical could not even begin to describe this place. The books that had nourished Jury with knowledge failed to explain the non-Euclidean spaces present within the Library.

Surely, any normal person would have had their mind rendered from the unfolding scenery alone as the Library became increasingly disordered with each passing day.

“Of a world fallen. I asked her who could be forgiven, and who could come along. They struggled against the greed. The heartache. The wars, and they repeated the same mistakes over and over until it all bubbled up. I can’t believe they sent me to fix it. I, who came from another world as their equivalent of a healer, became the most violent out of necessity.”

But at the same time, a structure was being formed. The central column was hollowed out, revealing nothing but a dark abyss underneath and far above. Books swam around this boundless column where rushing winds struck howled and struck hard enough to deal damage to Jury.

It was akin to tanking a head on collision with a train. Before long only this column existed as the entirety of the library. Jury sprinted around its inner rims, following the staircases as countless books spun as if stuck in a colossal whirlpool.

Why… does reading it make me so sad? Nav… Archivist. I feel like I’ve heard someone tell me this before. Jury’s heart continued to make ticking noises as the Archivist eventually caught up with her.

They came to what seemed like the edge of the world, and the only thing that separated them from the abyss a step ahead was a single, black, and white book. The search felt anticlimactic, but Jury remembered every hour spent within. It had been easily over hundreds of hours since they began their search, and since she left Frost behind to deal with the Corrupted…

Without being by her side again.

“Jury. I know who, or… er… vaguely who Frost is. But you are also somehow familiar to me. Since we first met. Are you surprised?”

The Archivist’s leather shoes gently tapped on the wooden floors as she approached Jury’s side and stared up at the towering woman. She pulled out a hand and brought it to her head, as if measuring their heights.

“Well… I do remember how tall you were. I’m sorry if it’s sudden… But the reason why I’m bringing it up now is because your heart’s weird. I meant the technology! Um… The onset of receiving a technology should be separate from the body. It shouldn’t be integral, like an organ. That only happens to Beholders after decades of exposure and attachment.”

The Archivist explained the oddity of Jury’s ticking heart, causing her to clasp onto her chest. Jury tilted her head in confusion, but a part of her understood what exactly the Archivist was implying.

“Carpalis’ Faustian Bargain was just a hair clip until it fused with her body. It takes time.”

“… Do you mean that I’ve maybe been exposed to this technology before?” Jury verbally asked.

“Not maybe. You must have. I don’t know what it is yet, or what it will be but –! I think if it’s you, then it’s ok! So open your arms out and hug that book!”

Jury spread her arms wide, and, after a small moment of thought, she embraced the book. Her body instinctively tensed up, expecting something substantial to occur.

But nothing happened. Nothing changed at all. In fact, the Archivist could almost be heard giggling to herself as she gently placed a hand onto the brooch Jury wore.

Then, she spoke for the very first time:

“Please don’t lose that precious gift. And… Good luck, Jury.”

Suddenly, the world fast forwarded until the darkness from above and below consumed her vision. When all went black she found herself floating in an empty void, feeling nothing but rushing air.

She couldn’t tell if she was falling or not. The air seemed to blow from every direction at once. Clutched in her arms was the book that promised to grant her the technology she wished.

This was her one perfect book.

 

< Book of Elysia >

< Excerpt >

< “Time will always be the final frontier. Whether it’s make belief or as tangible as the world we love, ruling over its powers will forever be the only way we can all remain together.” >

 

< Technology Gained >

 

<||||> Heart of Time <||||>

 

* * *

You are reading story Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story) at novel35.com

 

Jury suddenly found herself in a pale forest. Giant trees reached for a pale sky as her vision tumbled. The panicked breaths of a child were all that left her lips as she travelled through the forest.

She was running away from something.

“Run! Run! There’s a big scary monster in our forest!” She tried to warn whoever dared to tread within this forest, which was home to nearly a thousand Angels like herself.

Her body was near identical to that of her Corrupted self, and she confirmed it as she tripped into a puddle of freezing water. It turned out that the reason why her forest was so white was because it was caked in thick snow.

Jury never knew what snow was but hearing the scrunches and feeling the coldness bite through her skin made her realize that this was a memory. A sealed memory of a time so distant that she could not accurately decipher just what this memory meant, or if it even was hers to begin with.

Nevertheless, Jury kept calling out at the top of her lungs that a monster was here. Her home was located in a remote place, somewhere far away from the rest of the world. She remembered that much. Her voice called and called as her body bled and shivered to the cruel conditions of her home.

Hanging from translucent threads by the treetops were her Angel brothers and sisters. The monster had already taken their lives and Jury knew that she was next. She ran and ran, stumbling over twigs and rocks, and slipped onto the mud of an animal path before she eventually could run no more and keeled over in despair.

She remembered the giant creature. A giant, black, fuzzy ball that took the eyes of her closest friends. Jury never wondered why it was them, the innocent Angels, who were targeted by this monster when they did nothing wrong.

Hatching from their bodies were more of these monsters, and they spat poisonous thorns that withered the trees all around her. Jury didn’t sob or cry, instead, she only continued to blare a warning, caring little of her own life.

Frost was right.

Since the start… since the very begging, Jury was a selfless person. She didn’t know if she was going to die here, but the thought of Frost warmed her in this dreaded cold.

And then – Flames scorched the miniature black, spider-like monsters. It was a comforting flame that injured the bad, and warmed the bodies of the innocent.

Jury looked up from the mud and found a familiar back standing before her.

That person wore the same clothes as Frost’s Hired Arm, and their body was wider. Bulkier. Bigger and masculine. She couldn’t see their face as he turned around and took her hand.

Then much to her surprise, he began to work on her injuries with unconventional methods.

This man did not use healing magic, but an assortment of tool, cloths and devices.

“Tch… Look what they did to you…” He… No. Frost painfully spoke.

Jury’s eyes widened.

Those were the exact same words Frost shared with her when they first met.

Far, far back when the children of that village tormented her on that fateful day. She couldn’t believe it. If it was a dream, then she didn’t want it to end.

Her heart ached happily to the nostalgic warmth of his hands, and the voice that comforted her in her time of despair. Moreover, she was elated to know for certain that she did know Frost from a time that predated their own.

This person couldn’t be anyone else.

No one could be this kind.

Frost allowed her to climb onto his back, and from there he began to carry her out of the desolate forest. Few words were shared, but she was certain that just like their first encounter… there might have been a communication problem.

It made Jury laugh.

And it made her cry harder.

This warmth permeated through her cheek, body, and arms as she found herself being lulled to sleep on the back of her savior.

Maybe this was why she was so ready to defend Frost.

Perhaps to repay a favor from long ago.

 

* * *

 

< Jury. It’s Nav. How are you feeling? >

 

< As I thought… there’s many things to take in >

 

< Even for myself >

 

< … There is good news. You’ve finally become a Beholder >

 

< Or more specifically, a Junior Beholder >

 

< Allow me to show you your base stats >

 

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