Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

"A person of value should be treated accordingly." Alina said, tidying the cloak she was wearing and then bowing politely to Kaizen. "It seems I have treated a celebrated guest lightly. My sincerest apologies, Mr. Psyker."

'She changed her posture so quickly after getting down on her knees...' Kaizen thought with narrowed eyes.

"To apologize for my mistake, in addition to this complete map of the Tretidian Kingdom, I will give you one of the scrolls here as a gift."

The librarian raised her hand and at least a dozen scrolls flew from various corners of the room and began to float above the two. This excited Kaizen greatly and he asked:

"Can I pick any one I really want?"

"Absolutely." Alina replied with her head down and a serene look on her face. "I want to offer a valuable gift to a guest of equal value."

At that moment, Kaizen looked up, saw the scrolls on them, and then looked at Alina again. He, instead of choosing one of the scrolls in the air, walked over to a large jade jar further to the left, opened it, and picked up a large scroll that was inside it.

"I'll take that one." Psyker said, looking earnestly at the scroll now in his hand.

The Librarian's eyes widened. 'How did he know there was a scroll right in there? And just this one...' she wondered.

'I saw that you were looking at that jar a lot, so I guess it must be one of the best scrolls around,' Kaizen pointed out as he unrolled the line that closed the scroll.

Alina quickly regained her neutral posture and inquired:

"Are you really going to keep that one? It's certainly a good document for the aura it emanates, but it is written in a runic language much older than any other. I don't believe even the elves know this language."

When Kaizen opened the scroll and saw its contents, he realized that what the librarian was talking about was no exaggeration.

[Title effect 'Master of Languages' activated].

[You can now understand 30% of any language.]

[Thanks to the title 'Talented', you can now understand 50% of any language.]

[You are trying to read a document that is in Ancient Runic Language. To understand 10% of this language, you must learn 100% of the Fundamental Runic Language.]]

[The 'Master of Languages' effect was instantly turned off].

[His current level of understanding of the Fundamental Runic Language is 50%.]

Then Kaizen closed the scroll and said with a confident look at the woman:

"I will take that one. There is no language in this world that is impossible to learn, at least not for me."

After Kaizen's statement, a smile appeared on Alina's face who then couldn't contain her laughter to the point of accumulating tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Hahahaha!" She laughed for a few seconds with a contented countenance and at the same time said, "Pardon me for laughing! This behavior and courage was already something I expected from a Psyker, but you really are amazing!"

[You won 'Complete Map of the Tretidian Kingdom.']

[You won 'Old Scroll with Ancient Runic Language.']

Kaizen put away the two gifts he got from Alina in his inventory and before the librarian could say anything else, he inquired:

"May I ask one more question?"

"Of course. It will be my honor to answer it." She stated.

"My first goal as a Psyker was to find an Advanced Mage, so I could learn more about my powers. What do you think that might mean?"

"Um... Let me make one thing clear to you, Kaizen. Psykers are not mages, so if you were wondering about that, I'm afraid to say that that is the purest truth. Since you are the first Psyker I have met, I cannot say that I have experience with your powers, because I do not. However, based on what I have read about Psykers, the only thing similar between us is the origin of our power which is very similar."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm talking about the supernatural. A long time ago, shortly after the dawn of worlds, we humans had nothing but our bare hands. Our physical strength was all we had to survive in a wild and dangerous world. Over thousands of years, we developed powerful techniques with this physical strength, while also using the power of our mind. In other words, we learned to merge focus, the electricity coursing through every cell in our body, and our strength to create an abnormal kind of strength."

Kaizen looked at his own fist and remembered his skill called <Sword Art>. "I think I know what you are talking about..."

"I hope you know... When we humans learned these techniques, we stopped being so fragile and were able to rival the Orcs in hunting gifts. Even so, only a portion of humans have what it takes to reach such a level and the other portion would remain weak. Seeking other sources of power, some humans have seen in the magics of the elves a sign of compatibility."

"I heard about that once. However, how exactly is that connected to the supernatural?"

Alina smiled briefly. "Absolutely everything is connected to the supernatural, life, death, worlds, feelings, our minds and the source of our powers, the paranormal."

"Huh? Paranormal and supernatural don't mean exactly the same thing?"

The librarian was surprised by the man's questioning. "What kind of Psyker are you to have that kind of conclusion? Frankly..." She massaged her temples. "The difference between Paranormal and Supernatural is as clear as the difference between water and wine, but I'll explain it in a way that will be more obvious to you. The supernatural means that it is above the natural laws, that is, it is something that has no specific pattern and is above the laws of physics, ignoring those laws. And the paranormal is part of the supernatural, just as electricity is part of physics."

"I don't understand. Does that mean that the paranormal is a supernatural energy?"

"No, the paranormal is the phenomena of the supernatural. Let's say you see a ghost. Since this ghost is a spirit, it is a supernatural creature, but, for example, if it is able to make anyone who comes near it laugh hysterically, that is a paranormal ability."

"Ah! Now I get it. The supernatural is the nature, the origin, and the paranormal is what happens within that nature."

"Exactly. Since neither the supernatural nor the paranormal can be explained, it is normal for ordinary people to think they are exactly the same thing."

"Okay. Now that I know what each of them are, how does that relate to the origin of our powers and the magic of the elves?"

"The origin of magic is supernatural and before the elves learned it, it was a power worthy only of the gods of the Vanir Clan, who had a special connection to the supernatural." Alina gestured as she explained. "In other words, magic is a way of connecting the supernatural world to the physical world and thus using paranormal powers, ignoring physical laws. Some magicians do this through grimoires, scrolls, talismans, incantations, chants, songs, songs, and a myriad of ways."

The librarian looked at the scrolls flying above her and put them away in their respective places.

"However, not every person can become a mage, because this requires an affinity with the supernatural world, which can be gained through a talent that is acquired hereditarily or cultivated over the years. Depending on the race, it is easier for you to learn spells, because of their infinite number. Finding a Giant mage or an Orc mage is much harder than finding an Elf, just as it is easier to find an Orc warrior than an Elf warrior. It's customs and knowledge from generations, plus the natural talent of the race."

Kaizen frowned and looked at Alina. "In your case, was the gift for magic hereditary? You are very powerful and you look very young."

She smiled. "I believe that in my case it was a combination of the two. I've been practicing magic since I was just a baby, and magic helped me discover myself. And in your case? How did you become a Psyker?"

The boy scratched the back of his neck nervously, not sure what to answer.

Back when he was playing MMORPGS, there were few players who set up stories for their characters, because the artificial intelligence of the NPCs was made with pre-programmed dialogues, so he never thought he would need to do that.

With a faint smile and a lost look on his face, he replied:

"I don't know for sure. I woke up in Holinda City a week ago, as if I had been teleported from another world and started to discover my Psych powers."

The story was dull and simple, but it was the only story Kaizen could think of in time. A classic Japanese Isekai.

Alina was circling around him, analyzing him from head to toe with a hand on his chin and an observant look.

"As expected for a Psyker, a mysterious origin... That's interesting..." Suddenly she stopped and looked at Kaizen as if she had had a great idea. "You said you wanted to learn more about your powers, didn't you? What if I know a method to help you with that?"

"A method?" Kaizen asked.

Without Alina even explaining what she had in mind, they left the scroll room, went down some stairs, and when the shelves full of books were no longer part of the scenery, Kaizen realized that he was no longer in the Library of the Magi, or at least not in a conventional part. He just swallowed his saliva and hoped that he was not being taken to a prison.

Soon, the librarian stopped in front of a small wooden door, opened it, and asked Kaizen to step in front. As requested, Kaizen did so and found himself in a large chamber, where on the opposite side of the door was a large painting on a rock wall. Although Kaizen was not an avid researcher of mythologies, he knew the basics and recognized the figures that the painting depicted.

'Skoll and Hati, the wolves that chase the sun and moon.'

Alina ignored the cave painting and said:

"I think this room is empty enough not to destroy anything important in case what we are about to do goes wrong."

"What are we going to do that could go wrong to the point of generating destruction?"

The librarian smiled at Kaizen with excitement.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske

More character images in:

https://discord.gg/bpqq9u4gS8

Like it? Add to library!

Don't forget to vote with Powerstone to support the book if you like it...