Awakening: I Ascend Alone-Chapter 25: A Bit Knowledgeable

Melvin looked at the plain cover of the book with a complicated expression before dropping it back on the table.

Of course, he knew a few things about the Testament. In the same way, it was supposed to be common knowledge among many.

The testament was what had miraculously brought the drastic change to this world, and with its appearance came the phenomenon of flux infection. Then, due to his awakening failure, he was able to see what the testament looked like.

He wondered if his set mates had seen it too or might have read it through books.

However, that was the only information he had about the testament. He wished somehow that he could be able to read about the world before the paradigm flux in this book under his care.

But then, he remembered what the librarian had told him.

"You can find whatever you are looking for as long as the information is within the current happenings..." she had said to him.

Melvin heaved a sigh, awkwardly opened the book like it bit on his hand, and started reading. Seconds into scanning through the printed texts of the book, he engrossed himself in the infamous history of how things changed because of the testament.

The first part was dedicated to the sudden waking from slumber of the indigenes. He already knew that people had strangely begun to spring up from whatever they lay on, just like he had done upon regression.

Back then, people began waking up in small numbers, finding themselves in different strange locations. Some found themselves in old buildings, others in majestic houses, a few in laboratories, and various others in several places that lacked definition.

Days passed, and thousands of people were already awake, bearing different ages and existing with only one thing in their minds: their names.

Those who woke in majestic houses, or at least, found themselves clustered within certain locations, grew accustomed to each other and soon were known as family members.

The strangest part of this information was how orderly the testament, whatsoever, had organized this to happen. Among the family members, there were the elderly man and woman as parents and younger ones as children.

’Strange.’

Melvin had questioned the term "families" when the middle-aged woman used it on him. Now, however, he understood how everything had come to be.

Still, for some reason, he questioned not facing the same fate as them. Why would he have to be solo in both worlds?

Calming his mind, he continued to read.

Those who found themselves in the laboratories were now referred to as the smart madmen, since they not only took it upon themselves to solve the mystery but also resolved to regulate order in this world. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Melvin laughed at this particular information. Could it also mean that their leaders had woken up someday in laboratories? The Principal too?

The thought was giving him chills, but he brushed them off, knowing it was but a general occurrence, and the smart madmen only overshadowed others in terms of intellect and skills.

It was only thanks to them that the situation seemed to become stabilized. People lived happily, and others with various emotions, without thinking much about the strange ways they had come to live.

Most important of all, they lived like all hope was lost to finding the truth about humanity. Like they had given in to this kind of life.

This brings Melvin to switch pages to the next topic. The second part talked about the flux carriers. People like him.

He read through this part with interest. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no new information on flux awakeners. It was the common knowledge he had heard from the principal.

As time went by, teenagers within the age range of sixteen to eighteen were diagnosed to have been infected with a strange substance in their veins. Research was carried on, and the substance was soon recognized and named as flux, the thing that granted each carrier different magical abilities.

Melvin still read through the familiar information until he arrived at the third and last part that talked about the Academy.

Initially, he had doubted the capability of the smart madmen being able to possibly erect the existing buildings of the academic city within that short period of time in order to regulate flux awakeners. But now, he had his answer, and the doubt was clarified.

The building was never recently built. They had been there just like the other structures: the majestic houses and the likes of them.

The words read:

"The world looked completely like it was deserted by the ancestors, with everything in place."

But the confusing part was that there were no ancestors, or nothing that provided details on them except the testament. That was the only way their mystery could be solved, and through teenagers like him.

The only contribution the smart madmen had made for the Axiom Academy was renovation. And it was very believable to Melvin, considering the fact that he had seen some structures within this small city that looked like they had been built ages ago.

’Mystery... mystery!’

Melvin cursed. Just why can’t things ever be so easy in this life?

Adjusting himself a bit on the chair he sat on, he exhaled and dropped the book. Then, he picked up the second book he had brought along and brushed his fingers against its surface.

"Ascending the Silver Spire."

It was while reading the book that he discovered most of the information the stunning lady had provided him with.

He even came to understand more about common terminologies like "origin," "spatial tears," and the likes of them.

Then, while reading, he came across a strange term that the stunning lady hadn’t mentioned to him. According to the information, it was believed that there were human fortresses in the Silver Spire built around or close to a Spatial Tear.

Melvin referenced this particular information to the Opening Bastion.

The one word that had been used to describe this structure was Citadel.

Melvin reminisced a bit about how he returned from the trial zone. What was the spatial tear? Was it the altar?

Bringing his eyes back to the book, he scanned further. Only that way was he able to finally answer his question about the game pooling machine, lined in the circular dome.

Spatial Tears served as an anchor for both entrance and exit into the Silver Spire, which is for people who have awakened their affinities. Hence, after reading about the pooling machines, he learned the name by which it was known.

It was called dimensional counters, and it served as the anchor for entrance into the testament.

For some reason, a feeling of anticipation coursed through Melvin. He had used a different method to enter the Silver Spire and now wished to see how these dimensional counters worked.

After a few more minutes of glancing through the book, he felt like his brain was going to burst soon with tendrils of information rolling out. He was now a bit knowledgeable about how things came about.

Meanwhile, every other thing he wasn’t able to read... or other information he needed but couldn’t find through the book remained a mystery. The kind that required strange formula patterns to solve.

Returning the books to their position on the shelf, he went to the librarian and, after verification that he wasn’t in possession of any book, signed out.

Outside the research building, Melvin felt the familiar chilly wind brush past him, causing his silver hair to dance in resonance. Satisfied with all that he had found out, he happily brought out the map once again and looked over another direction.

"Now that the library section is over, it’s time for the training grounds," he muttered and began to trudge the path further.