He now looked around the room filled with Ability Books and Skill Books. They were all useless to him. Nothing but paperweights.And he couldn't even take them with him. First of all, it would take far too long just to put them all in his System's Inventory, as he could only put one object at a time in it. And secondly, what would he even do with them?! He couldn't sell them on the marketplace. The Military had a monopoly on the Ability. If he tried, there would be severe consequences. And that was only because of who he was. If he wasn't Shizuka's brother, that kind of stunt would earn him a one-way ticket to the dungeon!
Tsukuru was about to stomp back out of the room in rage, but then, something caught his interest. It was the source of that bright white light. A small shelf bolted to the wall in the back of the container. Additionally, it looked noticeably distinct. Compared to the basic, uniform steel bookshelves, this one had a rather…ornate design. On top of that, the sole book on it looked completely different from the rest of the books in the container.
Given the bright, white light coming off of the book and the shelf, Tsukuru imagined that if this was TV and not real life, there'd be an angelic chorus emitting from that shelf. Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"Well, one of these is certainly not like the others." He muttered, as he began to walk down the storage container towards the far wall.
***
In the training center, roughly ten minutes had passed since Vorden had last heard Quinn say anything from the other side of the door. However, he preferred this over the screaming he had been hearing from Quinn during his "evolution". Before, Vorden felt like that at any second, Quinn might revert back to that…thing, and start another rampage. But right now, Vorden was relaxed, and was no longer holding the door in place with Ian's Ability.
He let out a deep sigh, as he lent up against the metal door, his back propped up against it.
"What are we still even doing here?!" Raten asked from behind Vorden in the dark space. "Any second now, that kid could start eating us! I don't understand!"
Vorden narrowed his eyes.
"We're still here, aren't we?" Vorden shot back. "Do you really think this door would have held him back if he really wanted to still eat us?"
Vorden brought his hand up to the surface-level, shallow cut from when Quinn had grazed his chest. The wound had already healed up somewhat, leaving behind a line of dried blood, which was scabbing over.
On the other side of the door, Quinn lifted himself up off of the ground, getting to his feet.
"Vorden, are you still there?" Quinn asked.
A moment later, he heard a response.
"Yeah, I'm here, Quinn." Vorden said in a reassuring voice. "You alright now?" He asked.
A sad smile appeared on Quinn's face.
"Yeah, I'm alright." Quinn replied. "You probably want to know what just happened, huh?" He asked.
On the other side of the door, Vorden glanced away.
"Yeah, well, I'd be lying if I said 'no'." He replied, scratching his chin nervously.
Quinn then took a deep breath. He was ready to tell Vorden the whole story.
***
Back in the storage container, Tsukuru stood in front of the bolted bookshelf that looked extremely out of place in the container. While the shelf had been chest-level for Quinn, due to the differences in height, it was level with Tsukuru's forehead. This made it rather difficult for him to grab the book off of the shelf, as he couldn't even see it.
Suddenly, Tsukuru felt something coiling around his waist. It felt hard as steel, even through his Glathrium-Fiber robes. Looking down, he saw that the black scorpion tail of the Hobgoblin was wrapped around his waist. Before Tsukuru could say anything, he felt himself being lifted into the air.
A moment later, he was eye-level with the shelf. Seeing what had happened, Tsukuru glanced back at the Hobgoblin, who was standing a few feet behind him.
"Thanks." He replied with a gentle smile. The Hobgoblin gave him a smirk.
Tsukuru then turned his attention back to the shelf. As he did, he reached his hand out towards the book. It was the same one that Quinn had tried grabbing. "From Courier to King: The Rise of the Howlers".
As Tsukuru's hand gripped around the book's upper corner so he could grab it, the book once again became enveloped in the strange, white "Celestial Energy". However, something was…different from the time before. Unlike with Quinn, the strange energy wasn't remaining around the book. Rather, it was being absorbed into Tsukuru's body.
"Whoa!" Tsukuru replied in a shocked voice. As the energy surged through him, he felt a rush fill him. Instantly, a System message appeared in front of him.
[Celestial Energy has entered your body.]
Tsukuru's eyes widened.
''Celestial Energy'?' He thought. 'Isn't that the thing Bliss was revealed to be in Ray's Story?'
As the energy flooded through him, Tsukuru felt his heart racing. It was as if had just downed a whole pot of high-caffine espresso coffee, every cell in his body feeling revitalized. Eventually, the white energy subsided, and Tsukuru's body slowly calmed back down.
"Holy shit!" Tsukuru gasped. "What a rush!"
Tsukuru momentally wondered if that was what people felt like when they were on the "narcotic drugs" of the old world. He now suddenly understood why people would willingly put something so dangerous into their body. The feeling, even if fleeting, was intoxicating. He had never felt so alive. A moment later, a System message appeared in front of him.
[Your body has absorbed a significant amount of CelestialEnergy. 10000 XP received. XP: 17036/25600. +20 MC. MC: 80/80.]
Seeing the message, Tsukuru's smile widened. Not only was he now significantly closer to Leveling Up, now only needing a little over 8500 XP to Level Up again, but he also got a significant boost to his MC, on top of that.
Tsukuru then shifted his attention from the sudden boost he had received from subconsciously absorbing the Celestial Energy, and back to the book.
He reached his hand out, and grabbed it. As he brought it close to his face, the shelf it was on started to disintegrate. Before his very eyes, the shelf broke down into light particles, before vanishing completely.
Tsukuru continued to stare at the now-empty space on the wall.
'Lot of 'disintegration' going around lately.' He thought. A moment later, Tsukuru felthimself being lowered back down. When he felt his feet touch the steel floor of the container, he glanced back at the Hobgoblin. He saw the Hobgoblin control the scorpion tail in the same way a monkey would control theirs. She wrapped it back around her waist in two layers, reforming the belt.
Tsukuru looked back down at the book in his hands. Quickly, he opened it and flipped through a few pages, skimming it. As he did, his eyes widened. Instantly, he slammed the book short.
"This is…this is the next part of the story." He gasped in bewilderment. "This story takes place right after Ray and Bliss's last conversation before he sealed himself in the 'Nexus Tablet'."
The 'Nexus Tablet' was Tsukuru's own personal name for the Tablet Ray Talen sealed his soul within. Since the Tablet was the source of all Abilities, Tsukuru viewed it as the 'nexus' of all Abilities. Thus the name.
Tsukuru thought back to Ray's words with Bliss on the top of that school in the very last chapter.
***
"Hey, did you know Jack'sdescendant goes here?" Bliss asked, turning to Ray. "I think his name is Gary or something. Man, he has some wild green hair."
Ray smirked.
"Well, there was a reason why I picked this school."
***
Tsukuru reoriented the book in his hand so the front was facing him. He took a long, hard look at the first boy on the cover. The boy with the green hair, and brown fur covering his chest and arms.
'So that's him, huh?' Tsukuru thought. 'That's Gary Dem.'
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes. While he didn't have time to start reading it right now, he would start reading the book as soon as they got back to the base. Tsukuru imagined placing the book in his System's Inventory. Instantly, a System message appeared in front of him.
[Would you like to place the book, From Courier to King: The Rise of the Howlers, in your Inventory?
[Yes] [No] ]