Monster Integration

"XR037," I said as I appeared in the ruin; it had been a while since I had come here, and now, it felt fragile.

I could explode the space with a flick of my finger, and if I revealed my full aura, I might end up destroying the whole ruin.

I have no intention to do that; I have come for a thing. As soon as I get it, I will return.

With that thought, runes lit up inside me, and I moved; my speed was far, but it did not break space. Through it did send ripples across, but they will not cause any damage to the ruin.

In a few minutes, I had the spots where I found the Grimms when I came first time with the professor and a few minutes after, the ghost city in which I had to hide to survive from the Grimms.

I even saw the palace that had collapsed when I had retrieved that treasure.

Thud!

Forty-two minutes later, I landed near the stream where the gate would appear, and looking at the time; there was an hour before it happened.

Seeing that, I sat by the stream in the valley and closed my eyes, and helped my clones in their work.

About an hour later, I opened my eyes with a smile on my face as I saw the formation flashing on the stream before transforming into the gate.

I got up and walked into the gate, and a second later, I appeared in the grand Hermes library.

"Welcome back, Micheal Zaar," said the mildly sarcastic voice; I turned toward the beautiful woman with purple eyes and radiant forest-green hair.

"Thank you, overseer," I replied, ignoring the mild sarcasm in her voice.

"So, another round of reading; I hope you have brought something good, or you will not get even a second of reading this time," she warned.

"No, I want to try the test," I said, and I could see a faint surprise appearing on her face, which she did not try to hide.

"You seemed quite confident," she said. To that, I just smiled.

"Very well, since you want the test, here is the test, but let me tell you, this is your last chance; after you fail, the door of Hermes library will be closed for you forever," she said.

"Thank you for informing me, overseer," I replied, and she looked at me for a moment before waving her hand.

The stone disc appeared and the three layers puzzle; the last two times, I had failed in it, but this time, I will succeed.

"You have three hours, and your time starts now," she said, and hazy runes became clear, and I instantly appeared beside it and began to solve it.

My hands moved fast; they moved as fast as I could think of, and I was thinking fast. My knowledge and understanding of runic equations have increased tremendously since the last time I am here.

Click!

It took me two and a half minutes to solve the first layer; first, I had needed more than two hours to do that, and the last time, nearly one and a half hours, but this time, only two and a half minutes.

As I had said, my understanding of the runes has gone through tremendous advancement.

The solved equation of the first layer merged with the second later, and I began to work on it immediately.

It is quite complex, but I understand it, and my hand is moving with that understanding.

Click!

The runes moved around as my hand moved, and the equation became simple and simple, till it had solved too in eight minutes.

I stopped for a moment as only the final layer of the puzzle remained before I began with a smile on my face.

It is quite tough, I give you that, far more than two layers, and I could see how last time, I had failed.

Whoever designed it is really smart, making it seem tough with convincing trash, which is what most will focus on, avoiding a simple equation that is right in front of their eyes, requiring only a few moves of runes to solve it.

Click!

It took me six seconds to solve it, and the moment I did, the whole disc lighted up, forming a stone key.

"Congratulations, Micheal Zaar; you have solved the challenge and thus became the librarian," she said as she took the stone key in her hand.

I looked at it, but she did not give it to me and instead turned to me with a smile.

"The access of 1st level librarian is quite low. Do you want to try the challenge for the 2nd level librarian?" she asked with a smile, which did not give me a good feeling.

"Sure, but what would happen if I lost?" I asked, "Nothing, you will only lose one chance; like the first challenge, you have three chances for this challenge," she informed me without changing her smile.

"Bring it out, them," I said, and the smile on her face became brighter, and she waved her hand.

As she did, a huge bronze disk appeared, the same size as the stone one, and runes laid out similarly.

"To solve this too, you have three hours, and your time starts now," she said, and the runes became clear.

I looked at the first circle and began immediately; I have understood the formation, and now I have solved it.

At first glance, it did not look tougher than the one I had solved, but the more I solved it, the more complex it would become.

Click!

It took me twenty-one minutes before I heard the click and moved to the second later, but it did not immediately start like last time.

I looked at it carefully for nearly half a minute; I did not move before I finally did. My hands began to slide across the runes fast, but sometimes I would stop for a second and again.

I solved the second runic puzzle, but it took me one and thirty-three minutes; nearly two hours passed.

Like before, I studied the third and final puzzle, and this time for nearly five minutes, before I began to solve it.

The puzzle is exceedingly complex; changing a single rune is changing the whole puzzle.

It would have been great if I could take help from my clones, but this place somehow isolated them. I am on my own in solving this formation.

Minutes ticked by as I moved around the runes; sometimes, I would stop for a minute before starting again.

It was damn frustrating, but I did not let that frustration clog my mind; I remained rational and looked at each rune calmly as I moved them.

"Three hours are over," said the overseer behind me, and the bronze disc turned hazy before disappearing.

I sighed and pulled back my hand.

"It was quite a challenge," I said as I turned to the overseer, "But you have nearly finished it,"

"Do you want to go again?" she asked, and to that, a smile appeared on my face. "No, I am not capable of it yet," I replied, though I am confident that I will become capable of solving it very soon.