*knock*

*knock*

"Is there anyone there?"

A young man is standing in front of a door knocking it, he is a journalist belonging to the Freeman Journalist guild of Santok empire of Rosa dynasty. 500 years ago there is no profession such as 'journalism' in the dynasty even in the entire continent. It all started from a single man belonging to a remote kingdom of Santok empire. He is supposed to be one of the millions of soldiers who fight and die on the battle field but something strange happened and he became one of the strongest and a idol in the entire dynasty. Everything around him is shrouded in mystery, the young man wanted know to about him and was curious due to various reasons.

*click*

The door opened slightly and a voice could be heard,

"Come in"

"Sorry for the disturbance"

The man went inside the room, it is small and cozy but warm . As he went in saw a rack full of books and a book on a table with light flashing on it. There is a old man sitting on a chair facing the table, he turned his head towards the man and said,

"My name is Gordon"

"H-hello mister Gordon, my name is Nick Newman a tier 1 Journalist from Freeman Journalist guild"

There are many Journalists in the world who write about 'that person' but Nick never fully believed them because his father always told him,

(~Legends are exaggerated, you are journalist never blindly believe anything,

gather,

assess,

create,

and present, be brave don't run after popular things, try searching the truth and questions , that's what should we do~)

Nick read almost all the books and records belonging to 'that person' even the confidential ones but he couldn't find anything significant, he is one of the top students graduated from the academy and works at the top Journalist guild in the entire dynasty. He status is very high but it always felt like he is walking on a path that is already laid out for him, he sometimes feel like he is dancing on the palms of some mastermind, normally no one would think like this but he felt that everything in his life  is going way too 'convenient' for him, from junior academy to till now he has faced very little problems, while his peers have faced ton of obstacles in their paths. It all began when he started paying attention to 'that person', so he wanted to learn more about him, instead of researching about 'that person's' victories, defeats and important events throughout the history he started searching about unimportant events and..

"Origins"

"W-what?"

" You want to learn about 'his' Origins right?"

"How do yo-"

"Don't mention it, there were never any people who wanted to interview me in all these years, you are the first one, shall  I ask you, what captivated you about coming to interview a old scholar like me ? There are  probably hundreds of people who have posted on the forum right? I never left any information other than my address not even my name, what if don't have have any useful information?"

Nick was momentarily held back  from the questions of the old man Gordon but clamed himself down, in the Freeman Journalist guild there is feature called forum, it is generally used by journalist who are tier 3 and below, the Freeman Journalist guild is like parent to all Journalist guilds in the Rosa dynasty, it has many branches, it also officially identifies and ranks Journalist based on their achievements, the lowest rank is tier 9 and the highest rank is tier 0 who is known as chief Journalist. Being the youngest tier 1 journalist in the entire 500 year old history of Journalism, Nick is one of the pillars of Freeman Journalist guild. Journalist below tier 4 have a right to post a question which is forwarded to each and every branch of Freeman Journalist guild.

Anyone who is recognized as a scholar can answer the question and even read the other answers on the question, if the information provided is valuable than he/she would be rewarded  regardless of their standing. It is proven very useful for the scholars for studying, researching and reading opinions of other people, it has it's fair share of disadvantages but  pro's overweigh the con's. Nick has posted the question in the forum 4 years ago, thousands of people answered the question but the information he collected was mostly avaliable in the books, so he was disappointed. But he saw a unique  thread which didn't have any information but only the address, he was little doubtful thinking that it was either rival's ploy or prank but he didn't want to take chances and came to Gordon.

The first thought on seeing Gordon was,

(He is not simple)

Gordon has huge amount of scholar's aura which is on par with his or even above him, which is very rare ,so there is a hope generated in his heart,  he cleared his voice and looked at Gordon and said,

"I became a Journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world"

"So?"

"Even if you lie or don't have any answers, but I will still  look into your eyes and  question you, regardless of the credibility of your answer, because I don't want to take any chances."

"Ha Ha Ha good reply, as expected of a prodigy and youngest tier 1 in the history, you are not like those other guys who write to please the officials"

Gordon laughed and patted on the shoulders of the Nick, he picked up a flask nearby and poured the tea in a cup and gave it to Nick.

"This flask thing is amazing isn't it?"

"Yes, even ordinary mortals can use it too"

"It is really a good invention, do you know it is also created by 'that person'?"

"Yes I know, seeing these bizarre things my interest in him increased even more"

"Interest is all good, but if you don't control it properly it might become a deadly weapon which stabs your back"

Nick narrow's eyes hearing Gordon's statement but didn't refute it. He drank the tea and placed the cup down and looked at Gordon,

"Shall we start th-"

"Wait a minute!"

"What happened?"

"Before we begin, I want you to read a book"

" A book?"

"Yes, once my wife was in your position too, she made some shocking discoveries about 'that person' but she 'mysteriously' disappeared, there might be some answers in that book, do you want to read it?"

Mentioning his wife, Gordon had a look of sadness in his eyes but it didn't last long, Nick gave a quick nod to Gordon. Gordon picked up a chest which is underneath his bed and took out a box from it, the box had many enchantments, runes, sigils and seals on it. Gordon removed all of them, the entire process took 3 hours, Nick patiently waited without uttering a single word. Gordon took out a tattered book which had a brown cover and dusted it. He slowly placed the book on the table near to Nick and said with a deep voice,

"Do you dare?"

Nick felt cold and a chill down his spine, he gulped down his saliva and took the book with trembling hands, the book itself had many protection mechanisms, and only someone like Nick who are tier 1 can read it but with much difficulty, Nick ran down all his scholar's aura and read the title of the book,

"Journey Towards Greatness?"