Floating through the hole in the wall, I was met with a peculiar sight. A massive library filled with rows upon rows of aged books. “Huh, a library within a crypt. Bit of an odd choice but it’s a fantasy world so I can’t really complain.” I float over the debris of the ruined wall and begin exploring the insides of the library.

  Observing the entirety of the room, I estimate there to be about 8 shelves in total with who knows how many books hidden in them. The interior of the library was illuminated by numerous floating candles scattered randomly near the ceiling. I float over to one of the candles and poked it a few times, it budged slightly but never fully moved from its position.

  I then went over to one of the shelves and tried to grab one of the books but just as I touched it. It crumbled to dust. “Whoa, these books are super old.” I try grabbing another one but just like before it disintegrates into dust.

  Now realizing that these books could contain important info on the world, I mentally chastise myself for my carelessness and resume exploring the rest of the library. On top of each shelf there were signs with faded words etched on them. I tried reading one but the letters were super foreign to me. There were some familiar letters from the alphabet but it was mixed in with some strange symbols I couldn’t decipher the meaning of. “That one looks like an inverted 7 and that other one looks like a squiggly G.”

  Shaking my head in helplessness, I searched around some more before coming across several tables. In each of the tables there were stacks of scrolls, quills, and books just scattered about haphazardly. I used {Identify} on the objects to see if I can glean more info out of them.

  {Book}

  {An aged book containing unknown information}

  {Scroll}

  {A weathered piece of paper that contains barely legible writing}

  {Quill}

  {A worn-out writing utensil}

  {Identify has risen to level 5 [Max Level]}

  {Identify can be upgraded}

  “Well ain’t that helpful.” I remark sarcastically. At least my {Identify} can finally be upgraded so without wasting any time, I signal yes to the upgrade.

  “Huh? only one option this time, I guess it must be one of those linear skill paths.” I mentally shrugged and just picked the given option.

  {Identify has been upgraded to Advanced Identify}

  {Advanced Identify: Lv 1}

  {Allows the user to receive additional information from the world around them, Quality of information given is determined by Intelligence}

  “Let’s test out this upgrade shall we.” I glance over to a random book and {Identify} it.

  {Gardening Basics 101: Common}

  {An aged book containing unknown information on the subject of Botany}

  “Well at least now I know what the books are about.” I thought. It appears, I can now also see the rarities of items. Scanning some other books, I found that most of them were either about mundane stuff like table manners or the importance of proper boot maintenance but a few of them were rather intriguing and could be my ticket for gaining knowledge about this world.

  I carefully picked four of these books and laid them out on a nearby table for investigation.

  {A Short History of the Vertalis Kingdom: Common}

  {A book containing the history of the Vertalis Kingdom and it’s monarchs}

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  {The Fundamentals of Arcana: Uncommon}

  {A book containing information on the basics of mana as well as guidance on its proper use, contains unknown enchantments}

  {Tales of the Otherworlders: Common}

  {A compilation of stories related to the achievement of past Otherworlders}

  {Deities of Zedunya: Rare}

  {A book containing the lore and history on the numerous gods and deities of Zedunya, contains several unknown enchantments}

  After reading the item descriptions, I begin to understand more about the world I’m in. “From the looks of it, I’m not the first otherworlder to arrive here.” I mutter internally “Gods truly exist huh, I suppose that shouldn't come off as a surprise considering my current situation.” I remarked. I don’t think I was particularly a religious person then again I couldn’t remember anything concrete from my past life so I could be wrong.

  Getting back on track, I decided to read the books in order of least interesting to most interesting so I went ahead and started reading {A Short History of the Vertalis Kingdom}. Or at least tried to, it turns out that even if I know a general summary of the book I still can’t read it if I don’t know the language.

  After several seconds of me attempting and failing at reading, I check the other books and see if I fare any better there. {The Fundamentals of Arcana} wasn’t any better with the language still being indecipherable for me, however inside of the book there were a few unique looking symbols that seemed important so I merely put it away for later.

  The {Tales of the Otherworlders} was also a bust facing the same problems as the two before it. I opened the last book and was met with the same strange language as before but to my surprise, the words began randomly shifting and moving around the page as if alive before settling into a language I could actually understand. Happy, I can gain some knowledge, I began intently reading the {Deities of Zedunya} book.

  “The world of Zedunya is a marvel of a world with a myriad of people, places, and cultures so diverse and interesting, attempting to quantify them all in this book would be the height of foolishness. There is, however, one thing that almost all cultures have in common. That would be their reverence of the Gods.

  The deities of Zedunya are powerful and influential beings, however not all of them are equal in rank. Among the many gods there exists a hierarchy, a natural order with which they have to unconditionally follow. The lowest rank of deities are the Inner Gods or the 36 Precepts as they are more commonly known. These are deities that govern over a small or singular concept, they are the most numerous of the gods and also the most accessible of all of them, with each member of this group having their own official clergy. They are also the deities that summon Otherworlders most frequently, with a third of the Otherworlder population stemming from them. Gods that fall within this categories are: {Durran: Lord of Storms}, {Colubris: Father of Serpents}, {Merapi: Volcano’s Warden} and many others.

  The second rank among the gods are the Outer Gods or 24 Mandates. These divine beings lord over purer domains than their lesser counterparts. Each of these beings possess enough power to decimate entire empires, and change parts of the world as they see fit. Only a few of these deities possess clergy due to their inherent tendency to view anything other than the divine as lesser. Due to this outlook, they rarely if ever summon Otherworlders, viewing them as a scourge on the natural order. Some of the top figures within this category are: {Noxillia: Night Mother}, {Aerion: Divine General}, {Xantho: Artisan of Pleasure}.

  The last rank and the most mysterious of the divine beings are the Distant Gods or 12 Fundaments. Not much information is known about them, what we do know is more akin to myths and legends rather than substantial info. The most basic knowledge we have of these supreme beings is that every single one of them is powerful enough to rewrite reality as they see fit.

  It is unknown exactly what the full extent of their powers are but it is widely speculated that each supreme being is connected to a foundational law of the universe. These supreme laws act as both their source of strength as well as the chain that limits them. The names of these grand deities are lost to time but their Epithets are still remembered and revered to this very day, These include: {King of All Kings}, {Queen of the Abyss}, {Fatewriter}......”

  As my eyes land upon that final name, a strange sense of deja vu overtakes me. Flashes of unfamiliar images assault my mind. People, places, and things that feel familiar yet distant keep pouring into my head without stopping. I clutch my skull with both hands in a desperate attempt to cease this endless deluge yet, just as quick as it started it suddenly stopped.

  I was left dazed and confused at what had just happened. Seeing that the book had fallen from my hands, I hurriedly picked it back up and flipped back to the last page.

  “Fatewriter? What is your connection to me?” I ask with a quivering voice, hoping to get some sort of answer.

  When nothing happened, I dejectedly went back to reading but didn’t get more than a few words in when I heard. *Kriiict* I turned around immediately, only to find a purple squirming object hurtling straight towards me. I reflexively blast out two {Mana Spears] in quick succession, the first one merely grazes the object but the second one stabs it dead on and impaled it.

  {You have inflicted 4 magical damage to Skitterslice Spider: Lv 4}

  {You have inflicted 8 magical damage to Skitterslice Spider: Lv 4}

  {You have slain Skitterslice Spider: Lv 4}

  {Mana Spear has risen to level 3}

  The purple ball thing splats to the ground with a sickening crunch, I look briefly at the corpse before sensing the movements of a dozen tiny feet all around me, forcing me to survey my surroundings.

  “Oh dear, this might be a problem.”