Kings Game

Chapter 40 - Foundations

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Nul had little concept of time. Akanos kept a clock but it was off by a few years. After his death, the librarian had no reason to track time and only acknowledged the clock's existence when it had stopped running. Even then, he only repaired it out of obligation.

The first few days were spent studying Godspells. One of which was particularly important to the librarian. Akanos had revealed a crystal amulet to Nul. It was large and gaudy, with etchings carved into every single facet of every single gem.

"What does it do?" Nul asked.

"When it's finished, it will house the contents of this library."

"Spatial compression?"

"Not the books themselves, child, just the information they hold. I fear you'll have to leave the books themselves behind for some intrepid archaeologist to discover in another hundred years or so."

"How does it work?"

"Like so." Akanos floated over to it. He'd dispensed with his corporeal form once Nul had figured out his secret, opting instead for a semi-opaque figure of himself instead. Solidifying just his hand, Akanos caressed one of the facets and the gem split open, breaking into dozens of geometric shapes and expanding to reveal an orb inside.

Static bounced between the bits of gemstone and the orb shimmered with a mirrored surface. Akanos touched another gemstone, closed his eyes, and a page materialized over the orb. Grinning, Akanos reached out and pulled on the page, as if turning it. The page disappeared and a new one took its place.

"Interesting, no?" Akanos was grinning from ear to ear. Even when he was only half-visible, his arrogance was still able to shine through. "I've managed to copy almost every book in this library into this amulet. With your help, I should be able to finish compiling the entire library in another week or so."

Carefully, Nul reached out and touched one of the floating bits of gemstone. It tingled under their fingers. Akanos made a gesture and the stones collapsed back in on themselves, once more forming an amulet.

"How did you make this?"

"Oh, it was nothing really, I just tricked a rock into thinking."

"You made a rock think?"

Akanos nodded. "But first I had to trap lightning inside of it."

"That answers none of my questions."

"Oh well, plenty of time for that later. What do you say, will you help me preserve the library?"

"Only under the condition that you help me create crowns."

"I'm afraid I can't do that?"

"Why not? You've already made two fully autonomous Godspells, a crown should be easy."

"Apologies. While I can make one, I simply won't. I would never allow you to use such obtuse methods to create some of the greatest etchings this world has ever seen."

Nul sighed, waiting for Akanos to get to the point.

"But...I suppose I could assist you in creating a mechanism that would allow you to fight on par with the Kings."

"By the gods...this must be how Kell feels when I lecture her..."

"Who's Kell?"

"One of my comrades. We came here hoping to bind a remnant to her using a crown."

"If that's your plan, then I would be more than happy to assist, though it won't be a crown, not by any means."

"Then what will it be?"