CHAPTER 3 - Who Cares?

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“A new toy has arrived.” Yuitherceus said, his grin growing to an inhumane proportion, his purple eyes flaring in excitement.

He reached in for the apple, before slapping his own hand away lightly.

“Now now, I should think about this a little more, I’ve barely even looked into this!” Yuitherceus laughed, slapping his own forehead while laughing as if he was silly, before pulling out an eye from his pocket, its irises riddled with many miniature golden eyes, all moving to look at Yuitherceus himself.

[Using item: Eye of Chaos to gauge the player Rei’s status]
[Status unavailable, subject has insufficient magic]

“... insufficient magic?” Yuitherceus smirked ominously, his smile reaching new levels of creepy, which was highly unlike his usual pretty face.

“That’s perfect … you’d like that wouldn’t you?”

*pick* He picked the apple gently, the surface of his fingers feeling a bit tingly as he felt the essence within it seemingly feeding on his own powers.

‘Yes yes, you’ll get your fill soon, don’t be so impatient.’ He thought, as he stared into its glasslike, animated red surface, glowing eerily on his hand, taking his other hand and grabbing the other side of it, holding it with two hands.

And in one swift motion, he split the apple in two with a clean motion.

*chiing!* The apple sounded, sounding more akin to glass breaking as small fragments fell on the floor, as well as a surprising amount of red substance that looked close to blood, but from its higher level of viscosity, it looked more like blood-coloured ooze.

“Oh yes that’s the stuff …” Yuitherceus said, sniffing more and basking in what seemed to be the smell of ‘violence’ if it were ever put into a fragrance.

What was left after nearly all the blood ooze has dripped onto the floor, the only thing left were two clear glass-like shells, with 12 odd miniature fragments, resembling apple seeds if it were not for how much darker they looked, almost unmistakable from the blackness of the void, again merging with what seemed to be veins of pumping blood.

Most notable among them however, was a seed that was larger amongst the rest which almost purely red, with veins of blood clearly bulging and covering what was supposed to be its dark-voidlike surface area.

[Core Seed of Gluttony - Legendary]

However …

‘Should I really do this?’ Yuitherceus thought to himself, thinking about what he was doing right now.

Minutes passed, with Yuitherceus really thinking things through, even telling some other Gods through his magiphone about him choosing a person to give a random gift to.

“Ah, who the fuck cares anyway?” Yuitherceus said, as he manipulated the system in order to give the individual called Rei a little gift.

“It’s mine anyway, I can do whatever I want with it.” The God of Chaos laughed without a care for the world, as he put a bowl of popcorn kernels in the microwave.

Preparing snacks for the show that was about to happen.

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And meanwhile, as the God of Chaos schemed and deliberated …

“So it’s like that huh …”

In a large room, one with all sorts of materials used for its construction, such as marble, stone, and of course wood, arranged and made into intricate formations, much of the walls looking like bookshelves.

The polished, grey stone floor reflects your image as feet would clack against it. The three stories of the library are lined with mahogany bookshelves and tapestries of the Kingdom of Maltha’s coat of arms, all illuminated with ornate crystal magical chandeliers that emit a warm glow.

On either side of the room is a giant stone spiralling staircase that moves up to each level. The scholars are busy at their tables in the middle of the room, filling the space with the ambience of scribbling pens and turning pages. The hallways of books contain works of every shape, size, colour and genre.

All while the afternoon sun casts through the crystal ceiling, filling the room with a warm light.

“I see …” Rei grabbed another book.

Rei was now in the royal library, however unlike what one expected from a library containing information and secrets fit for royals, the books were …

“Mhmm … I understand …” Rei muttered, nodding as she flipped through a book and then threw it over her right shoulder, not minding what could have been behind her.

*plock!*

“O Great Hero … please put the books back in their place …” Zaren sighed, picking up another book that Rei dropped into the floor, and then tiredly putting it back into the bookshelf just near him.

After having a basic conversation with the squire guide she was assigned to, Rei got a gist of her situation, as well as the lands around her.

She was in an island kingdom called Maltha, one that lies in the middle of the Mediaterran Sea, which was situated between the continents of Yuropa and Afrika.

It was fairly simple, and the reason that Rei herself thinks so …

‘... hey, isn’t this kind of silly?’ She couldn’t help but do a facepalm when she saw the current map of the world, called Gaiya.

‘It’s almost the exact same as Earth …’ Rei laughed.

Aside from some glaring differences here and there, such as the Americas being non-present, and the lines being too squiggly due to the lack of satellite technology among other things, Rei could indeed tell that it was a glaringly similar map to Earth’s.

She wanted to think that it was a joke, however from the information that she skimmed through all the books in the library, skimming and rapidly dashing through subjects like Geology, Geography, Economy, as well as things like the basic magic theory and skills.

Unfortunately, due to very obvious reasons, things like state secrets weren’t available for her hands despite her title being a hero.

And although that was a big let-down, Rei's current objective was to learn the common sense of this world, what factors she could and should consider when making her plans, and how she should go about putting them in action.

‘For some crappy little island nation, these guys seem to be well-decked in luxuries …’ Rei thought to herself, though she could quite understand why.

The Kingdom of Maltha, which was an island kingdom, obviously fairly limited in size, was blessed nonetheless by its location which put it in the middle of the Internum Sea, which made it a great hub for traders and the likes to stop by, however due to that same placement, it has been coveted by powerful nations like the empires Ispagna and Osmanyi, only staying independent through sheer luck and lip service, playing every player in the region against each other.

‘Which now that I think about it …’ It made Rei’s teeth grind quietly to think of the possibility that there actually was no future threat that concerned all of humanity, and that she was only there to act as a shield against powers interested in taking control of the rock called Maltha.

‘Though, I’ll soon decide on whether or not it was my problem, after I decipher every damn book in this large library …’

The library truly was big, almost every book had a leather cover with incomprehensible text written inside.

Well, it was incomprehensible … until five minutes ago.

After comparing the Malthan alphabet to characters of every major language on Earth, Rei ultimately deciphered the Malthan Alphabet within five minutes, although it was just the basics, that was enough for Rei to gain information to read every book, naturally Rei prioritised the books which held the most basic of informations.

“O … Great Hero, you seem to be surprisingly … adept in the pursuit of knowledge.” The young squire, still there for some very obvious reason, commented, seeing how Rei was just basically almost flashing through every book’s pages, and then moving onto another one, his face clearly holding doubt as to whether or not she was actually even reading them properly.
And to this, Rei simply scoffed inside her head, however not actually doing so since she still had to play the part of a somewhat naive hero, still unable to process being transported into another word.

“Hey you, there’s no need to call me by that title every time, you can call me by my name, I order it.” Rei told the young squire, knowing that if she didn’t emphasise the word ‘order’ especially since she could tell from Zaren’s tone of voice was that he was the kind to prioritise duty with great motivation.

“Ah, then I shall call you Lady Yuusha, as to respect the Great Hero’s wishes.” Zaren said, falling completely within Rei’s expectations as he started smiling brightly, large swathes of happiness and delight mixing in as well, almost making Rei’s eyes hurt.

Looking away from it, Rei reached for another book on the pile, seeking to get back to absorbing information like a sponge, however …

[The God of Chaos is watching you.]

‘... what’s this?’ Rei saw a bright tablet-looking interface in front of her, before it suddenly disappeared.

‘It almost seemed like a notification …?’ Rei felt frustrated, confused at the sudden appearance.

“Lady Yuusha, it seems like there is something on your mind?” Zaren asked.

“Did … you not see that?” Rei asked, verifying.

“Saw what?” Zaren asked, somewhat carrying a lightly dubious expression now.

‘Should I tell him? Could he somehow turn this against me? Rei thought it through as best she could, but saw no way telling it could possibly backfire.

From the information she had absorbed thus far, the world was a fairly backward one, save for the recent advancements made in science over the past couple of decades.

In such a world, wouldn’t being associated with a God, much less garnering the interest of one, surely increase your value as an individual?

‘Thinking from the subject’s mindset never hurts, and just omit the God’s attribute, and like that it’ll be no problem at all.’ Rei thought, although it didn’t really feel like she was putting too much thought in it.

‘And to be honest, what harm could being watched by a deity really do?’

“Well … it says a God of some sorts is watching me …?” Rei scratched her head, and was going to describe her situation more in detail, however was interrupted.

*SLAM!* Zaren jolted from his seat, slamming both his hands down on the table, his eyes filled with glimmer, hope, and an obscene amount of excitement.

“Hahahaha, I knew it! The others had doubts because they could not sense any magic from Lady Yuusha, even going as far as to complain about her dark and eerie appearance, but the fact that you have received a divine revelation from the divine ones above means that Lady Yuusha is anything but a fake!” Zaren exclaimed, attracting the attention of library staff who were formerly just starting in annoyance in response to Rei’s own misdeeds.

‘That’s … what? Dark and eerie?’ Rei’s eyebrow twitched from annoyance she felt.

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I–” Rei was going to lecture the young Squire on proper manners, until she was suddenly interrupted by what seemed to be more system notices.

[The Goddess of Light is watching you.]
[The God of Skies is watching you.]
[The God of Death is watching you.]
[The God of–

The list went so on, with some big attributes like Wealth, and some minor ones like Pottery going into the fray.

‘What the hell is this …?’ Rei thought, suspicion piling up within her, heavily resisting the urge to wave the notices out of her sight.

[You have received a Legendary level quest.]

“A quest …?” Rei muttered softly, deep in thought, before she was once again snapped out her line of thought by Zaren’s voice.

“A quest! By the Gods! It truly looks like Lady Yuusha is one who has garnered the favour of the divine ones, so much so that they have already given you a goal without the need for Lady Vitorja to perform a divine ritual!”

‘Is that how it is? Well, it does make sense considering how people in the Bible and other religious texts always acted …’

Multiple individuals in Earth’s history have claimed to act in the name of God’s orders, unto which every quest was usually riddled with great rewards upon completion.

‘Eh, well it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at what they’re offering, now would it?’ Rei thought, her mind becoming more and more hungry with ambition.

‘Now, what quest will you give me? Of course, as per business conduct I can’t just accept what you give me without looking at the fine prints …’

Suddenly, a long notice popped out in front of her, one so long that she had to look past her table in order to see the end.

[Time limit - 5 seconds]

‘This … isn’t this a bit too suspicious?’ Rei read, reclining on her wooden chair.

What made her said so wasn’t because of something like the terms and conditions being too long, justifying the large size of the notice, but rather how aside from those words, it seemed to contain nothing else but blankness … until she saw something at the edge of her vision, by her feet.

Thoughts of suspicion arose she could check the last part, looking down all the way down near her feet.

[Look down (1/1)]

‘Wait … wait wait wait …’ Rei couldn’t even finish processing her situation, when the long notice suddenly disappeared and was suddenly replaced by a normal looking notice at the top of her table.

[Congratulations! You have been blessed with the Core Seed of Gluttony, please stand by for the merging process …]

“Core Seed of Gluttony? Look down? Hold on, I just got fucking scamm–” Rei was going to complain, unable to keep her quiet because of the surprise at the naming nature of the item she received, and jolted up from her seat, and that’s when it happened.

[Merging process will now begin, please standby …]

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Kekw

Sorry for the lateness, I kinda needed christmas, and will probably be late for the next chap too since New Year and all that, just maybe though, idk

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