library
It was the day of the summer solstice, and again a grand fest for the people of the palace. But since it was more centered around eating and partying, Tenno spent most of the time in the kitchen, regulating temperatures.
This festival wasn't very interesting for him.
Towards the end of summer was his birthday. Bang Cheng discovered this after wondering about Tennos mood.
The thing was, Tenno didn't know when this body had been born. In his original world, his birthday was the 6th of August, and that still fit since on Everni, every month had 30 days. However, his birthday was also the day he died. How he ended up in spring on Everni was a mystery. Maybe his soul needed to travel a while before arriving...
Anyways, he was in a complicated mood. To chief Bang he explained it in a way that could explain it. His family on Everni never cared for his birthday, so while other children would celebrate with friends, it was just another day of work for him.
Bang Cheng wasn't happy as he heard this, so he made plans for a nice and cozy birthday party.
Then, on the 6th of August, when Tenno entered the kitchen, the whole kitchen staff shouted "Happy birthday!".
He got cake, small gifts like pretty stones with carvings or candy. Whatever it was, he was incredibly happy about it. Mori gave him a floral wreath and Ichigo a new koudi, made out of bamboo instead of bone, so the tone it made was a little deeper.
Tenno was incredibly happy that this day turned out this way, with a lot of smiling faces and positive energy surrounding him like a nest. He was even allowed to just rest that day.
This way, the summer ended.
In autumn came the harvest, and everyone was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It was like the gods had been so enchanted by Moris and Tennos dance that they had romantic feelings, giving all too much.
As it got colder, Tenno finally remembered his library pass. He was allowed to go to the library in the morning, but had to be at the kitchen at noon. He didn't mind this setup though.
He told Mori about it, who had already gone to the library in summer, since the autumn made taking care of the plants more time consuming.
Tenno didn't understand that, but it didn't really matter. Mori told him the way to the library and which areas he should keep away from to avoid an embarrassing situation because his pass' authority was too low.
The Ifrit thanked his dryad friend and went off to the library. His pass was actually for the royal library, which meant that he was allowed to enter the palace. ...Which meant that he got with the help of his system the layout of the palace. It was really too convenient! Especially since he had to act like he wasn't that accurately aware of all the hallways and rooms around him.
Ichigo found that pretending uncertainty pitiful, so he picked the boy up and walked with big strides through the palace like he owned that place. Tenno suspected that his guard wanted to act cool and impress a child, but unfortunately, that wouldn't work in this special case.
As soon as they reached the door, Tenno jumped down, showed his pass and entered like a swift breeze.
Mori had a very good memory, so he could accurately tell where which books were. Surprisingly for Ichigo, the Ifrit went directly to the myths and miscellaneous folktales.
Doing this would help him get a better understanding of the development of the beliefs of the people from Everni. A hurdle was just the way strength was classified. Tenno normally didn't bother with such systems since they were big reasons for competition, but without it, he wouldn't understand important parts.
Everni was very old, with a written history of about 100 thousand years, which meant that there had to be a lot of war, back and forth and so on. And they were still at it today! At least they could settle on an official language and most borders...
He walked along the huge shelves with dragon carvings. The library was really huge, with dark wood and golden ornaments, other elegant decorations and cozy corners for reading.
He wandered around for a while but couldn't find what he was searching for, having forgotten about half of the directions Mori had given him.
"What are you looking for?"
He turned around. In front of him stood the fourth princess, just reaching his shoulder. From so close, he could clearly see her delicate tanned skin, showing that she often went outside.
"Uh... Power system... or something like that..."
"Oh, those. Come, I know where they are."
He followed her and carefully eyed her dress. It had long sleeves, a turtleneck, a heavy, slightly frilled skirt and was of a deep, golden yellow that looked like the leaves in autumn. With her chestnut brown hair and demeanor, she perfectly fit into the library.
"Here they are." she pointed at a row of dark blue books.
As soon as Tenno saw the amount of books he would have to read, his heart sank. There was so much he would have to memorize...? How bothersome!
"Have you red them?"
The princess widened her eyes. She thought a bit. "No, but I learned it roughly from my nanny. There is the ground level, the basics which most people have. When you're weaker than average, I call it basement. Over the ground level are low, middle, high, top, clouds and divine. Warriors have a hard time making it to clouds, mages to divine... I also think that there's another stage above it, but it's so rare that most think it stops at divine."
"Oh. I think I understand now. Thank you, your highness..."
"Oh, just call me Sunset. I'm not that old yet. Is there anything else you need?"
"The continents history."
"Oh, that's right beside the languages! I was on my way there, come!"
Tenno smiled and followed her. Normally, children of her age would leap while walking after saying something like this, but she determinedly rushed to a certain shelf, a serious yet excited look on her face.
She reminded him of Mori, more mature than other kids... But on the other hand, she was a princess, couldn't that be expected? No, she was a child... But considering her father... He was kind of at a loss with this princess. Just like the maids said, Sunset Cure was an enigma.
They arrived at the shelf, in a corner that was a bit hard to see from most angles. There was a small couch with soft cushions and blankets. It would be very cozy, sitting there with a book while it rained...
"Here. We have a very long history... So this one would be best to read. But the details are missing, to keep it short... Still a lighter read than those up there." she pointed to multiple slim books. They filled almost all of the top rows.
"What are those?"
"Diaries, starting as early as writing was developed on Everni. I looked into some, seems like a very strong vampire wrote them. Lived close to 6 thousand years. Of course, there are more books, and I wouldn't recommend the diaries since they are written in the old script."
"Okay."
"What should I call you?"
"Whatever."
She looked at him and he could clearly see 'are you serious' written all over her face.
"Tenno."
Sunset raised her dark eyebrows, then nodded. "It sounds like a word for emperor or king..."
Tenno just shrugged. She was actually right, Tenno was the title for the emperor of Japan. He was just surprised that she seemed to know that... he would have to look into the languages to find out more. But not now.
He took one of the books Sunset had recommended and sat down on the couch. He opened the book, but secretly watched the fourth princess as she looked at the book, deep in thought. She really didn't look like a child when she had that serious look on her face...
Once again, Tenno couldn't keep his eyes away from her. And he felt bad for it. He had the mentality of someone who had already graduated, how could he look like that at a child... It made him feel guilty and uncomfortable.
She decided on a book and sat down beside Tenno, acting like she didn't notice his staring. Sunset quickly flipped through the book, like a student who was used to efficient research. For an eight year old, she read pretty fast.
Tenno remembered, when he was that age, in his original world, he hated reading. He wasn't good at it and it was bothersome. It was easier and more enjoyable when his parents read for him. Now however...
He faced his book. Though Sunset said that the details were missing, Tenno found the book really informative.
When the first people of Everni started countries, the races parted ways to establish themselves. The more the races developed, the more they expanded their territory. The first wars happened, immigrants appeared, people defected and so on. Tribes from forests, plains and islands appeared, adding chaos but getting integrated into the society. Because of the many wars, places like the central-northern regions popped up. They were no mans land, belonging to no one because of the miasma storms.
Tenno felt that he knew the gist of it, so he searched for more details. He really wanted to know if there was something about the abductions...
Without him noticing, Sunset had put her book away and appeared behind him.
"What are you looking for?"
"Wah!"
He flinched and a few books fell down. Tenno froze. Between them lay a slim book in a grey envelope.
"What is that?"
The princess picked it up and flipped through it. "I'm not sure, I don't understand this language much... But judging from its appearance, it shouldn't be here but in the chamber..."
"... May I...?"
"Yeah, why not."
He took the book and looked at the writing.
"It's Italian. There dosen't seem to be any record of this on Everni... You really can read it?"
"Yes. Also, the elves have many languages. Do your research about the races, not just the countries."
"Later. The national treasures...?"
Immediately after he read those words, Sunset snatched the book away, a panicked look on her face. "You're not allowed to-! Well, not yet... If you keep it up, father will give you access, but no sooner!"
After that, she ran away. She was really fast, not minding her skirt at all...
Tenno stared blankly. Then he looked at his hands. He remembered the first sentence. 'National treasures, also known as sanctuaries, are the most important thing of every country, its heart.'
The heart of the nation, the sanctuary.
'System, did you scan it?'
"Negative."
'Why?'
"No command."
Tenno wanted to slap this system. He wasn't allowed to know more about the treasure, naturally, but why did she say that her father would give him access? Had it something to do with the vampires abducting children? He really didn't know.
"Oh yeah, the races..."
He looked at the books beside him, a bit lost. Then he pulled out a book about the elves, one about dragonkin, beastmen and so on.
The first ones to invent writing were the elves. They were in love with knowledge, and there were many of the languages from earth recorded from them.
Most races didn't get as old as the vampires, elves or dragonkin, but the demons, genetic experiments, could get even older. There was also a phenomenon where the person died but revived due to a different soul entering the body: Transmigration.
This helped develop languages, foundations of the kingdoms and the discoveries of national treasures.
Tenno had an idea.
'System, can you scan souls?'
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