79 LIBRARY

"I know", Athos smiled.

He knew he was the epitome of hypocrisy, but he did not intend to justify his actions to Circe.

"But since you've decided to do it the hard way, my conditions have changed...Ah, that's not the right word - more like 'increased'", Athos' eyes glinted with a hint of schadenfreude.

"Other than the antidote to cure Scylla, I want complete and unrestricted access to your Library. I heard it contains the best knowledge of the past three millennia."

"NO WAY! I-Ugh!", Circe's protest was quickly shut when the pressure on her shoulders drastically increased, almost smashing her face into the ground.

"I'm. Not. Done", Athos intoned his face hardening before pointing at the wire cage. "I want you to release those poor sods once I leave too."

If looks could kill, he'd be dead a thousand times over but unfortunately, they didn't. Thus, all Circe could do was helplessly glare at him while he ordered her to undo her life's work. On the other hand, the guinea pigs in their cages squealed in happiness.

"I'm not done talking", he continued and Circe's face soured further. "I want you to swear on the River Styx that you shall fulfil all my conditions. Moreover, you must also swear that you shall not do anything that would directly or indirectly harm me or anyone close to me and will obey my orders unconditionally. Oh! And to not lie to me either."

"I'd rather die!", Circe snarled, showing her ichor-stained teeth that seemed to be coated in gold. He might as well have given her a slave contract.

Athos sighed once more, "I'm sorry to break it to you but you're a goddess. It's a tad bit difficult for you to die but the same cannot be said for your apprentices, can it?"

CRACKLE!

Pitch-black lightning burst out of his body, incinerating every single piece of furniture in the room, save for the guinea pigs. He raised a finger and pointed it toward the glass window. The very next instant, a bolt of lightning smashed into it, pulverising it in its entirety.

"If you do not agree to my conditions...", he said softly but his words seemed to drill into Circe's skull. "I'll raze this sad excuse of an island down to its last atom, including all of its inhabitants."

"You-You wouldn't da-

"You wish to test me?", he said calmly and the unfeeling blue slits on his helmet exuded an indifference that would anybody involuntarily shudder.

Circe continued to stare defiantly at him but when lightning began accumulating on the tip of his finger once more, her eyes widened in horror.

"I yield! I yield!", she yelled before looking down in defeat. The island was all she had, and without it, she would be nothing. She looked up at the man in the hopes that the pressure on her shoulders would reduce but lightning continued to dance on the very tip of his finger, ready to be let loose at any moment.

"Swear!", he said, glaring at the sorceress.

Circe grit her teeth for a few seconds before relenting, "I swear by your terms."

Thunder boomed in the distance.

CLINK!

The helmet retracted and Athos gave the Goddess a cheerful smile, as though he hadn't just threatened her with genocide.

"See, It wasn't that hard."

***

Half an hour later.

Athos walked into a large room - twice as large as the previous one at the very least, followed by Circe who now looked as she did when he first met her, albeit with a completely different expression. A rather dour one.

There were no windows, but the ceiling was a transparent dome that let one see the sky above. It didn't seem to be glass - more like enchanted marble. If he concentrated hard enough, he could even see faint runes carved into the dome.

He stopped examining the ceiling and looked around him, but his attention was quickly grabbed by a lone bookshelf at the centre of the room. It was absolutely enormous, almost three times his height and just as wide, but instead of smiling in joy, he frowned.

"Is this really all the best knowledge the past three millenniums have to offer? Seems a little small, don't you think?"

"A bumpkin in the magical world, are we? This bookshelf contains more knowledge than you can possibly fathom. The books contain far more knowledge than they seem to hold.", Circe said condescendingly but a quick side-eye made her shut up.

Athos walked up to the bookshelf and looked it up and down. It was split into numerous sections - Architecture, Astronomy, Mortal Biology, Mortal Physics, Mortal Chemistry, Alchemy, Math, Monster Biology, Everything Supernatural, Literature, Music, Everything Magic, Philosophy and so on. There was even one small section that looked like Circe's personal collection with books that exuded an incredibly ancient aura.

The multiplicity of sections was baffling but what was more surprising was the fact that every section had a pitiful number of books. The largest section was Everything Magic with ten large thick books while the smallest section had only one book.

He ignored the books in front of him and walked over to Circe's personal collection that she had unlocked much to her visible disgruntlement. He picked out one of the five dusty books - what felt like the most ancient out of all of them. It had no title and had nothing that indicated that it was of any value.

It merely had a simple brown cover but when he tried to open it, he couldn't. His eyebrows raised in surprise, and he tried again, but this time his muscles bulged and discharged an immense amount of force.

Yet, it was in vain.

"It's impossible. I've tried, I know. I've used every method I could possibly think of but it's of no use", Circe shook her head.

"Are all the books in your personal collection like this?", Athos asked, intrigued. His strength alone could split a mountain in two, yet it couldn't open this book. What secrets did it hold?

"No", Circe shook her head again. "That's the only one that's...errr...special, but the others are unique in their own right."

He was about to place the book back into the collection but he froze halfway. He looked at his forearm which began faintly glowing gold.

Vajraha was humming once more.

"On second thought, I'll be taking this", Athos said, and the book disappeared, vanishing into his watch that was tucked underneath his armour. The last time Vajraha hummed was before the humanoid being with a tail and it seemed important.

He hadn't figured out why exactly the weapon hummed but he'd figure it out later. He was not going to ignore something that could be his only key to growing stronger.

Circe's jaw clenched and anger flashed past her eyes but she pushed down the indignation she felt. Even a Goddess could not ignore an oath made on the River Styx. Those who did would suffer a fate worse than death. She had no idea what said fate was, but she had no intention of finding out.

"I appreciate the fact that you showed me the library, but you should start working on the antidote. I may not age, but I don't have all the time in the world. The quicker, the better", Athos added.

"I will. It may take a week or so as the ingredients are tough to work with", Circe spat before whirling around and stomping off in a muted rage.

He chuckled, knowing there was nothing the Goddess could do to him. The oath that bound her was too powerful. He turned back toward the bookshelf, his dark-blue irises betraying his excitement.

"So many books, so little time....", he muttered. He was planning to ransack most of the library anyway so the sentence didn't make much sense but hey! it sounded cool.

He grabbed another book from Circe's personal collection and made his way to a comfortable, cushioned chair. Similar chairs and tables were present all around the room, with the giant bookshelf at its centre. The room was fully air-conditioned and even had a small stand which had snacks and refreshments. The perfect setting to read a book.

He took a seat and his armour morphed into a familiar sleek, two-piece, slim-fit suit with Oxfords. A library must get its due respect after all. He adjusted his tie before examining the book before him.

It was much, much sleeker than the brown mystery book from before but had longer pages. Its cover was inky black with an aurous lining but was completely covered in dust which obscured the words written on the front as if it hadn't been touched in centuries.

He took a deep breath and blew the dust away revealing two pieces of golden text written in beautiful cursive. One was the title, and the other was the author.

[ Tales of the Divine and the Demonic ]

[ Merlinus Ambrosius ( Merlin The Mad Wizard ) ]

***

Support me on p atreon.com/Marine0IQ if you'd like. ( Psssst.....it's got extra chapters!!!)

Don't forget to remove the extra space!

( Pls gimme more powerstones too!!! I love em! They taste like candy! )