Chapter 5: Chapter 4: A stage of a universe
Observation room:
The lab worker quickly called his supervisor over the moment he saw Arth 737 being sucked into a book. He replayed the scene and waited for his response.
"No, need to worry Tyler." His supervisor said without concern, "this actually happened to a couple of other Arths in the past. They'll at most spend 1 to 3 hours inside before being ejected out."
"Alright, but why do we have potentially dangerous books like those?" Tyler asked.
"Why not? The library contains lots of mysterious and unknown books gathered from various sources. By using Arth, we can observe what kind of effects the books will have on the user. For example, the chained books were excavated from various ruins and abandoned historic settlements; they are usually the heirlooms of various powerful families or entities in history. Most of them have strict requirements to be read, touched, or even approached. What better way to find out about those requirements than letting the Arths test them."
"Are you not worried that they'll be possessed or something and start attacking people?"
"No, for one reason or another, Arths are immune to being possessed or controlled by spells. We can't force them to do things using magic. We can threaten them to do so but having a short life of about a month, it would be a waste of effort to do so. Just call him over for an inspection sometime this week when he returns. It would be great if we learn from him a way to use that book. I heard from one of the transporters that the book came from a medium settlement of promising mage scholars. When a nearby lord sent the order to take over the settlement, all they found was an oversized book where the settlement once was."
"Do you think the whole settlement went inside the book?" Tyler inquired curiously
The supervisor laughed, "That is the story from the transporter. I highly doubt it, however, the book has a hobby of sucking things in and spitting things back out, so it might not be completely false."
The supervisor smiled and patted Tyler's back, and said "Keep an eye out, there is a lot for you to learn about this facility; it isn't as bad as you think." before leaving the room.
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Xylos inspected the area. The place looked like a meeting place which was enclosed by towering coniferous trees.
At the center of the clearing was a large circular stage formed from a large tree stump it was surrounded by several dozen smaller tree stumps; all big enough that a full adult can sit on it comfortably.
There was no one here, but there were signs that the place was being used on a daily basis. He didn't see any paths leading out of the area. There was an empty wooden arch across from the stage but it didn't lead anywhere. He had a suspicion that it was one of those teleportation gates that he read about. However, he had nothing on him that he could use to trigger it; the current state of his core require rune paper and magic ink to do anything.
Without any progressive ideas, he looked at the round stage, and when he focused, he could see some magic flowing from the ground to it. The way the magic flowed felt calm and inviting. Intrigued, he walked onto the stage. The moment he stepped on it a technical instruction manual appeared in the air.
Presenters' Stage Guest Users Guide
1. Say "Adolas" to establish a guest connection
2. As a guest, with focus and visualization, one can generate illusions that can be used for a presentation
3. To disconnect walk off the stage or say "Adolas" again
Presenters' Stage Verified User Guide
*Revealed only to verified users
Presenters' Stage Admin User Guide
*Revealed only to admin users
The instructions were simple and concise, it was as if whoever created the "Presenters Stage" knew that various new and old people would stand on the stage and try out his creation.
Xylos didn't feel any malice from the instructions or the stage so he decided to try it out. "Adolas," he said as he stepped on to the stage. Soon after, he felt his surroundings became saturated in mana, generating particles of light blue light.
To familiarize himself with device he imagined a simple large grey cube; it appeared in front of him in all its dull grey glory. Then, he imagined a texture of green on the surface; the cube became green all around. He imagined grass and the cube took on the feel of fresh grass. He then rotated it so that it was standing on one of its corners. He said the words "lock rotation" and the cube remained upright on one of its corners. He said "spin clockwise 60 RPM" and the green grass rotated on its corner at the rate of 60 revolutions per minute. The more he experimented with the illusion, the more he felt that it was similar to video game design engines and the sandbox games he tried in the past.
Piece by piece, using his thoughts and imagination, he was able to create anything he could imagine. Thirty minutes in, Xylos was able to bring up a script creator and fine adjust the various characteristics such as the coordinate of each vortex, weight, and friction.
One hour into it and Xylos was able to implement physic effects like collisions, reflection, and particle effects. Another hour later, and he was able to add and adjust lighting effects which allowed him to give all his creations another layer of realism. Soon after he recreated the Durdle Door he saw during one of his vacations; pristine waves crashed against the coast as the sunlight cast the naturally formed arch in a mysterious glow.
Then, Xylos decided to create a living being and created a Bengal cat he played with at a friend's house. He couldn't think of any scripts to make it act like a cat, but unlike before, as if he was reliving a memory the cat casually climbed into his embrace. As he patted its head and rubbed its back, it brought .about a feeling warmth and comfort. Carrying the cat, Xylos willed himself to float into the air; doing so caused him to zoom out from the scenic location. A moment later, a sprawling solar system appeared with all its planets moving in an expectant but graceful manner. Xylos looked at the solar system in tranquil contemplation.
- Where am I in his vast universe? Will I be able to return? -
With that thought, the solar system suddenly split up in several reality marbles with varying degrees of color, size, brightness, and clarity. Upon seeing that image, the cat shifted in his embrace and autonomously leaped into his depiction of the multiverse. The sudden movement from the cat, that he didn't intend caused him to wake up from his reverie. Soon after, the illusion faded.
Followed by...resounding applause and cheers from people appearing one by one around the stage.
"That was amazing!" A voice said.
"That was the best presentation I've ever seen. What is that place? What kind of creature was that? I have never seen anything so cute; where can I get one?" A female voice sounded cheerfully from the crowd.
"Show us more!" Voices of childer echoed from the crowd.
"Well done stranger!" A booming voice rose from the crowd, instantly silencing all the others.
Xylos immediately snapped out from his surprise and looked at a large and rotund man in the back of the crowd, who exhumed an aura of power, wisdom, and authority.
"You've passed the first test. Welcome to Vos!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
eextreme
eextreme Enjoy!