Chapter 52: The Spirit of the Book

Ace took his newly written book, whose ink was barely dry, to the estate’s library.

The newly constructed library was a three-story duplex building. The overall design was simple and consistent with the architectural style of the rest of the estate.

The library was divided into multiple rooms. It contained copies of almost all of Teacher Peter’s collected books, managed according to Ace’s Classification & Indexing of Books, and also had a dedicated archives room for storing the originals personally handwritten by Ace.

Ace, accompanied by Carson, arrived at the archives room, preparing to store his new book there.

As he approached the archives room, Ace faintly sensed a fluctuation of Mana, subtle and fleeting. When he tried to perceive it carefully, it vanished.

Ace, alert and cautious, activated the Illusion Barrier, concealing himself. He constructed an illusionary duplicate of himself and walked into the archives room with Carson.

The illusion was similar to the Spell Hand—a tangible, controllable illusion. Ace manipulated the illusion and suggested actions to Carson, thoroughly searching the archives room, but found no anomaly.

Ace left resignedly, faintly hearing a sneer. He searched carefully for a long time but still found nothing.

Afterward, Ace checked the library daily. He would occasionally sense Mana fluctuations, but they would always vanish when he searched carefully. It was like being gently tickled with a feather; when he tried to grasp it, the sensation disappeared, making him extremely frustrated.

Today, Ace was lightly tickled again. He stood in the archives room, expressionless.

“I can confirm that the Mana fluctuation only exists within the archives room. I can speculate that this phenomenon is caused by a mysterious transformation (Wonder-like change) in one of the items in the archives room. The fact that the items in the archives room appear mundane and show no Mana accumulation is, conversely, abnormal.”

As he spoke, a flame ignited on Ace’s hand. It grew larger and larger, broke free of his hand, and rushed toward the books in the archives room. It was the Soul Spell, Burning Hand!

“It’s too hot! Ace, quickly put out the fire! I won’t play hide-and-seek with you anymore.”

A crisp, childlike voice came from all directions. Ace looked around with his naked eyes, finding nothing. He tightly closed his eyes and released his mental perception. The surroundings became a black-and-white ink wash painting. A multicolored sphere of light was strikingly conspicuous in this painting, clearly out of place.

Ace continued to control the Burning Hand, moving it closer to the collected books, while simultaneously using his mental power to carefully perceive the sphere of light.

“Hot, hot, hot! You can’t come any closer! I was just playing with you. How can you be like this?”

The multicolored sphere of light spoke, sounding annoyed and frantic. It quickly flew closer to Ace.

Seeing the sphere of light approaching, Ace decisively activated the Mana-Crystal Protection Membrane and activated the Eye of Emotion.

Bang! The Mana-Crystal Protection Membrane shook slightly from the impact.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch! What is that? It hurts, it hurts so much!”

Ace watched the sphere of light bobbing up and down, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. Could this be a mentally deficient Monster? Logically speaking, this Monster is likely closely related to the original books he personally wrote. It should at least be smart. How could it be such a simpleton?

“What are you? Confess now, or I will immediately burn all the books here.”

“Don’t burn them, don’t burn them! I—I am the Spirit of the Book! I was born from the books you personally wrote, and I am not a ‘thing’.”

The simpleton sphere of light said, sounding both anxious and angry.

“Spirit of the Book? From which book were you born? When were you born? What is your function?”

Ace asked a barrage of questions.

“I was born from the Dictionary. It has been three full moons since I was born. I am very powerful. I have many, many abilities. For example, these past few days, you couldn’t find me even when I was right in front of you, just because I didn’t want you to.”

Ace activated the Spell Hand and grabbed the Dictionary with it, examining it carefully but finding no anomaly.

“Don’t destroy the Dictionary. Please.”

“What will happen if the Dictionary is destroyed?” Ace asked with an expressionless face.

“I will dissolve. I was born by pure chance because your Dictionary spread widely and was praised by many people. I am very precious. An elf like me, born from the praise of mortals, is a gift from the world. Please don’t hurt me.”

The Spirit of the Book seemed terrified, speaking in a frantic rush.

“Why do you know so much?”

“I am the Spirit of the Book, a natural polymath.” The sphere of light suddenly grew brighter, seemingly immensely proud.

Ace fell into contemplation. He firmly grasped the Dictionary. After a while, a mysterious rune array suddenly appeared beneath his feet.

With the appearance of the Rune Array, the entire archives room was illuminated. Ace’s robe billowed in the wind, and a scale-like mark materialized between him and the Spirit of the Book. The two were fixed at opposite ends of the scale.

“Covenant! In my name, Ace, I establish an unbreakable pact with the creature before me! Great Covenant Scale, bear witness for us!”

This was Ace’s latest research achievement: the Covenant Ritual. Utilizing the partial Soul Runes learned from the Secret Pact Scroll, combined with the Equivalent Exchange Rune, a specific combination of the Ritual Rune Array, and knowledge of ritual rites, he constructed this special spell—the Covenant Ritual!

Because the core of the ritual is equivalent exchange, both parties must provide a fundamental object of reliance for the ritual to proceed. The Covenant Scale is the visualization of the ritual. The fundamental objects of reliance from both parties must be placed on the scale for the pact to be established.

Ace ignored the Spirit of the Book. He tore off the title page of the Dictionary and threw it onto the opposite plate of the scale. Next, Ace split off a portion of his mental power and placed it on the other end of the scale.

The Covenant Scale began to weigh the items. After swaying a few times, it returned to balance.

Okay. It seems the title page of the Dictionary is considered a part of the Spirit of the Book, or perhaps the Spirit of the Book and the Dictionary are one.

“The Great Covenant Scale bears witness. The fundamental objects of reliance are the covenant. The Spirit of the Book on the opposite end of the scale shall swear allegiance to Ace, shall hide no secrets, and shall commit no act of betrayal; Ace shall protect the Spirit of the Book and ensure its safety.”

With the multicolored sphere of light confused and Ace remaining expressionless, the scale shook violently, almost breaking apart. Ace sighed.

“This covenant shall last for 50 years.”

The scale continued to shake violently, unable to maintain balance.

“This covenant shall last for 30 years.”

The scale still could not maintain balance.

“This covenant shall last for 20 years.”

The scale still trembled slightly, unable to balance. The light from the Rune Array grew weaker and flickered continuously. Time was running out.

“This covenant shall last for 10 years.”

The scale managed to stabilize and emitted a strong light. In Ace’s perception, the light turned into chains, penetrating both of them and linking the two.

Subsequently, the chain on Ace’s side entered the deepest part of his Soul Sanctuary, leaving a shallow imprint before the chain disappeared.

Ace noticed a much deeper imprint beside the shallow one. A sudden dizziness struck him. When he checked his Soul Sanctuary again, he could no longer find the covenant imprint.

He understood now. The deeper imprint was the covenant he made with Athena. Because it was witnessed by a Great Hero, the covenant itself had a smaller effect, only requiring the keeping of a secret. Thus, even though it was somewhat unfair, it was permanently imprinted.

His pact with the Spirit of the Book was clearly unfair, and he was not significantly stronger than the Spirit. If the Dictionary hadn’t been in his hands, and the Spirit of the Book hadn’t resisted, Ace might not have even been able to get them both on the Covenant Scale.

Without a time limit, this unequal pact would likely have been impossible to establish at all.