It has been 8 days since then. Ed had obtained his first technique, "The Soul Devourer of Heavens". This technique granted him control over his soul-based powers, which he lacked.
Ed had come across a giant Tree far, far surpassing the heavens themselves. It was a strange phenomena the nightmare land's environment barely affected the tree. Normally, trees shouldn't grow in a place like this, but not only that, the area where the tree stood tall spread greenery as if some divinity.
Without warning, the earth itself shook heavily.
'Now earthquake? What the hell is happening in this land?" Ed muttered in annoyance as he struck his sword in the ground to steady himself. Smokes dispersed, not ordinary but blackened.
[Poisonous substance detected in the atmosphere]
[Resistence+1]
The familiar system voice rang beside Ed's ear.
'Now poisons too, huh?'
"But it's all futile, they won't touch me," Ed said as he kept approaching the tree.
When the smoke dispersed from the area, it revealed a massive gate. It had odd ancient symbols carved used in victorian era, and it was carved with blood itself.
"So far, nothing has been easy. I doubt they would let me in without a fight," Ed laughed, but the two stone guards never moved from their position. Ed was cautious, and who could blame him from the moment he arrived on this planet, be it nightmare creatures, beasts, nothing left him alone.
"You shouldn't be rude toward the tree, they're our guardians but enemies to nightmares," A voice spoke beside Ed's ear out of nowhere.
Ed backed up a couple of steps and put some distance between them.
'When did he appear behind me? Who the hell is that? I don't remember anyone here aside from the nightmares, Ed thought. From Ed's position, a couple of distances further, a towering man stood. He had an umbrella that he held to his head. Red hair, athletic build, and golden hair. A scar across his nose. He had worn a brown garment robe.
"Who are you?" Ed composed himself and took the initiative to ask
"Name's Raiden, what's yours, kid?" Raiden unfolded the umbrella and laughed.
"Ed…Ed Orves," Ed said.
"Ed, huh? Nice name. What are you doing in a cursed place like this, kid?" Raiden narrowed his eyes and asked. Raiden's laidback demeanor put Ed at ease.
'If my father were alive, maybe he would be like that? What am I thinking about/ maybe this place has messed up with my head." For a moment, Ed thought of Raiden as a father figure. In his family, that's how he talked, yeah, just like that, man named Raiden himself.
"My friend has been cursed with the nightmare lord. I have only a week and two days," Ed stated the truth simply.
"A nightmare lord," Raiden's face darkened the instant he heard those exact words.
"Ed, listen carefully," He said, prompting Ed to focus, and continued, "The tree you see here is the world tree. It's a world library. In this world, all knowledge can be found here, but" Raiden paused as he felt bitterness.
"But what?" Ed pressed his expression, now serious.
"The library is so vast, finding a single book containing the information is almost impossible," He said as they entered through the gate. The stone guards let them enter without much confrontation.
When Raiden opened the door, a blinding light struck them and soon subdued them. Wherever Ed looked greenery and vines. To top it off, there wasn't an area where there wasn't a book present. The place was like a book itself.
'So, this is what you call a world library.' Ed was in awe. Never in his life had he gone to a place with so many books. To a book lover like Ed, it was heaven, but he didn't have time.
"Ed, in your case, you find the book almost impossible. Nor do you have time, or you're a Spirit Artist," Raiden said in response, taking a shocked expression from Ed.
'Who the hell is that man raiden, Its not been 5 minutes, and he already knows I'm not a Spirit Artist,' Ed thought.
"So how the hell do I find?" Ed was now concerned. He had travelled this far, facing abomination beyond reason, nearly died twice, but now he was told that because of the time, he wouldn't be able to save his friend.
"Ed, don't worry, you just have to drift your consciousness in the abyss, then the book will appear. But doing that is hard, as it takes years of practice and training, which you don't have." Raiden immediately caught Ed's concerns.
"What about you, can't you do that?" Ed asked the mysterious man who had shown knowledge that the norm shouldn't possess. Expecting from him, maybe this mysterious man could do something to help. Raiden wasn't disappointed.
"Yes, I can. But the thing is, the world tree would only show its true form when the person who wishes. In other words, I may spend endless hours on the book, but the answer would only remain in the abyss; it won't come to the surface," Raiden explained with great profanity. It was as if he had lived for ages…no decades. Ed had run into a wall; the answers were before him, but they won't show him the way to it. It was the same as pouring water into a holey jar. No matter how he tried, he couldn't reach.
"So, my only lead is reading them one by one," Ed said as he scanned the world tree filled with thousands…no millions of books. To top it off, the book didn't have a title or cover from which he could know which book was which.
"Yeah, it appears so, I feel bad not being enough help," Raiden said apologetically. He truly wanted to help Ed save his friend.
"Nah, you have done enough. Without your knowledge, I wouldn't even know how to look for the book I'm searching for," Ed said with a rare smile as he took a step forward and reached for the first book.