Looking more closely, there were carvings of drawings and what appeared to be runic writings along all the walls of the temple. I could tell that the writings were in countless different languages and patterns. None of them, however, were comprehensible to me.
I approached the statue and saw that there was a blade at its feet, but neither side had a hilt to grip. On the blade, there was an inscription in a language and pattern similar to some of the writings on the walls, but unfortunately, I couldn't read it.
"System, can you translate it?"
[I only possess knowledge of the languages the player already knows.]
I sighed. I would have to learn that language some other way.
I left the statue of the androgynous figure behind and went to the garden on the left side. The lush green garden seemed to run along the entire exterior of the temple, apparently ending where the forest began again.
Besides the fountain and countless plants, herbs, and flowers that appeared very well-maintained, there were also some stone benches scattered orderly throughout the garden. It was a beautiful and clearly well-designed place.
"There must be someone else here" I thought. "Someone must be taking care of this place."
I approached the fountain, which must have had a radius of five meters. At its center was a statue of a Chinese dragon, slightly larger than a person, and crystal-clear, glowing water gushed from its mouth.
The fountain in the other garden was the same size but had, instead of a statue, a tall tree with light purple flowers that fell over the water and floated in the gentle breeze. Unlike the other fountain, where water gushed from the dragon statue's mouth, the water here was still within the pool.
After glancing around the garden and noticing it was practically identical to the other, I headed further into the temple. Turning left after the entrance hall, I ended up facing the largest library I had ever seen in my life. At least a hundred shelves reached almost to the ceiling, covered in books and scrolls.
It was inevitable to let out a sound of admiration and surprise. A tingling excitement ran from my fingertips to my toes. Before I realized it, I was smiling.
Besides the long shelves that seemed almost infinite when looking up, there were also round tables scattered throughout the library and areas that seemed designated for study. I noticed that, on the shelves or tables, there wasn't a single speck of dust.
Near one of the windows overlooking the dragon garden, between two tables, there was a display totem. I approached it, and displayed on it was a gigantic map that seemed to emanate a kind of luminescence in some places and even move.
"System, what is this?"
[Item name: Global Map.
Item classification: Mythical.
Description: It is a magical real-time map that shows the locations of the world it is in, with detailed descriptions.
Note: It is possible to absorb the information and functions of the map into the system through the Peer Beyond skill.]
I couldn't believe such an item existed and was there displayed without any protection. "Please proceed with the absorption."
[Absorbing the item's information and functions through the "Information Collection and Absorption" feature of the Peer Beyond skill…]
As soon as I heard the system message, the gigantic map before me began to dissipate.
'Does the system need to absorb the item itself to absorb its functions?'
[Yes.]
I was a bit in shock.
[Absorption successfully completed.]
[The absorbed function of the Global Map item allows real-time access to practically all locations in the New World, as well as some extra information about practically every existing place in the world you are in. However, it is possible that powerful spells or protections may hide certain information or places.]
This was no small thing. It was a fantastic item and function, with very limited restrictions, and it was just there for anyone to take?!
[It is very difficult for someone to obtain this item. There are numerous protective spells and enchantments that prevent entry into the Temple of the Knowledge of Astar and the forest and area around it.]
"Numerous spells and enchantments? Others besides the illusion I broke and the will the temple carries?"
[Around space where the Temple is located, there are twelve additional complex layers of protection formed by mental confusion spells, illusions of the senses and perception, as well as barriers of magical energy that prevent passage.
Warning: Attempting to cross these enchantments in the player's current condition would result in severe mental damage and death.]
"Not just severe mental damage or death, but both. What a great prospect!" I thought, while carefully analyzing the information provided by the system.
"Well, it seems we'll have to stay here for now" I said aloud. "System, can you show me the area within this protection?"
The system then showed an image of a map with a small golden dot in the center, indicating my location, and a large circle around it. I wondered how large the protected area was.
[The safe area comprises a radius of 7.5 km around the Temple of the Knowledge of Astar.]
This meant my parents' house was at least 5 km from the edge of the safe area. For now, it was likely that my parents would be waiting for me at the temple entrance and would explore at most a short distance, so I considered them safe for the moment.
"Understood. Thank you" I thought. "Please open the description of the Peer Beyond skill."
[Description of the skill Peer Beyond:
Features:
1. **Information Collection and Absorption**:
- Passive function: Constantly collects all information the user comes into contact with and sends it to the system's database.
- Active function: When activated, makes it possible to gather more information than is visible to the eye (names of items and places, basic information, etc.). Can absorb information and, if compatible, functions into the system and store them in the database.
2. **Access to Third-Party Profiles**:
- Unique function (active): Allows the user to access the profiles of other living beings, regardless of species or condition. But beware, there are skills, spells, enchantments, and items that can make an individual immune to this skill or mask the data presented.
3. **Database and Query**:
- Passive function: Stores information and functions in a database that is constantly fed by the "Information Collection and Absorption" feature.
- Active function: Allows the user to query the database through requests and questions. The information the system can provide to the user is limited to the information present in the database.]
"Tell me about an O.P. skill." I whistled.
I then continued exploring the library. It was magnificent, with light stone shelves that reached almost to the ceiling. I wondered if there was any ladder to climb to the top or if some magic was needed to reach the books. I focused on the books within my reach, but I couldn't understand what was written on the cover of any of them. Then I found one written in letters I recognized, from the Latin alphabet.
To my surprise, upon opening it, I found a dictionary of Latin and another language with characters similar to the writing at the statue's feet and on the walls of the entrance hall. Could Latin have existed in this other world, or was the book a result of the fusion?
I shook my head. It was more likely that it existed in the former Mundus, which would explain the name itself. What didn't make sense to me was how the language existed in both worlds.
Luckily, I knew a lot of Latin, as I had studied the language when I was in college. I sat in one of the chairs around the nearest table, opened the dictionary, and began reading it.
If my Peer Beyond skill worked like a kind of photographic memory, I probably wouldn't need to read every word carefully, nor try to memorize or decode the alphabet. A dynamic reading of all the pages should be enough. I took the opportunity to test it and skimmed through the over 500 pages of the book.
After quickly reading all the pages of the dictionary, apparently I not only knew the meaning of practically all the words written — with the exception of the few Latin words I wasn't sure about and therefore couldn't translate into the new language, Ancient Astarian — but I was also able to understand the phonetics and pronunciation of the words, since there were indications in the dictionary itself.
I searched for random words in Ancient Astarian and tested it. I knew the meaning and how to pronounce the words aloud, though I wasn't sure how well. At least I knew what sounds to make to vocalize them.
"Okay, that's all I can get from the dictionary. To understand the grammar, I'll need to read a book in the language."
I looked for a book written in Ancient Astarian on the same shelf where I had found the dictionary, but then I noticed that all the books there were dictionaries of Ancient Astarian to other languages.
"This will be very useful. This way, I can learn many other languages practically and quickly."
However, I set the dictionaries aside for a moment and went to find a book written in Ancient Astarian on another shelf. It didn't take long for me to find a beautiful, large hardcover book.
I returned to the table where I had been sitting before and began reading the book, which had practically the same number of pages as the dictionary, but the cover was almost three times larger.
Coincidentally, it was a book with writings and illustrations about the history of the Temple of the Knowledge of Astar itself. It took me longer to finish reading this book than the dictionary, both because of its larger size and the attention I devoted, trying to decode the grammar and having to translate the newly learned language.
Astar was a kind of city-state, completely independent of any other domain, self-sufficient and prosperous, focused on technological, scientific, magical, and general knowledge development. This didn't prevent it from maintaining business and commercial transactions with other places. However, contact with the outside was somewhat reduced.
The Astarians worshipped knowledge above all else; they were philosophers, scientists, and artists, in addition to valuing good health and well-being. It was an egalitarian population, without distinctions of status regarding gender, sexual orientation, or race, and in their society, citizens were not separated by social class.
Everyone worked together, using their unique and individual talents to maintain the city. They were pacifists and followed a very well-planned code of laws. Crimes rarely occurred, and there were no prisons; it was a very safe place. All citizens of Astar lived comfortably, happily, and harmoniously.
"Did such a place really exist? Was an utopia like this really possible?" I was incredulous. "Isn't this just some piece of fiction?"
A sense of anguish washed over me. It was evident that such a civilization no longer existed in the present, at least not around here. The book stated that the Temple of the Knowledge was the center of the city-state, with the rest of the city existing around it. However, there was nothing beyond the Temple and the forest in that region. I couldn't see anything in the Global Map either.
I continued reading the book and was able to discover more about the protections placed on and around the Temple; however, there were no instructions on how to pass through them. To do so, I would have to learn spells, enchantments, and skills. I sighed. That would take a good amount of time.
I also discovered that the Temple had rooms that served as classrooms, laboratories, workshops, among other facilities. Rare medicinal and poisonous plants were also cultivated there.
And the most interesting news was that one of the fountains at the entrance of the gardens was blessed with advanced healing water, particularly effective against poisons and curses, and the other fountain was filled with a deadly poison.
However, it wasn't written anywhere in the book which was which. The most important information had been left out.
After finishing the reading, I knew a lot about the history not only of the Temple but of all of Astar.
It was like an entirely new world, and I needed a few more minutes to assimilate all of it. It was the perfect society to live in, which had prospered for at least half a millennium, according to what I had just read.
"Were people in Mundus simply kinder and smarter than on Earth? Or was Astar the only society that succeeded?"
I stood up and stretched my arms. With my phone dead, it was hard to know how much time I had spent inside.
[92 minutes have passed since you entered the Temple of the Knowledge of Astar.]
Of course, I had the system to answer that kind of thing. Depending on how the system evolved from here, a phone might become completely useless. I stretched my arms again.
Then, a special section of the library caught my attention. For some reason, the feeling I had when looking in that direction was the same as when I first saw the temple ruins.
'An illusion enchantment,' I concluded.
I approached and inspected it closely. Activating my Peer Beyond skill, it took no more than an instant for a totem to reveal itself. On it was a book that didn't look particularly special. On the other hand, it was small and thin, and its cover colors were slightly faded, as if it was older than the previous ones I had gotten my hands on.
"I should go back to where my parents are soon; they must be getting worried," I thought, but I reached for the book anyway. Nothing happened.
I opened it and skimmed through the pages. Its language was Ancient Astarian, so I could understand it pretty well.
I found a passage that might be a poem or something similar, and decided to test the pronunciation aloud, even though I didn't know all the words; theoretically, I knew how to speak them.
As soon as I finished speaking the short passage aloud and was feeling satisfied even without knowing if the pronunciation was correct, I heard a noise coming from my right.
In the wall, there was a carving that resembled a human figure holding a plant similar to a three-leaf clover, which began to glow softly.
A few seconds later, a passage opened through the wall, and a long stone corridor, illuminated by blue torchlight, was revealed.
"No way...!" I exclaimed aloud, my mouth opening in awe.