With a thought, clang! Ange bumped into something and his conscious was bounced away.
When he came back to himself, he saw he was blocked outside the most central area of the Resting Camp, inside was the Monarch's Land of Slumber.
Clearly, some boundary prevented Ange's mind from entering this area, yet Ange felt nothing, neither surprise nor disappointment, and turned towards the highest tower in the east.
The Resting Camp was vast, with five major building complexes. At the center was naturally the Resting Camp's most core area; the other four complexes were symmetrically arranged at the four corners, and the eastern tower was the highest.
Ange's thought swiftly entered here without encountering any boundary.
While it looked like a high tower from the outside, inside, it resembled a chimney more. The internal structure had no levels or partitions— just a straight-up cylindrical space reaching the top of the tower.
It was empty inside, with nothing but a small lectern placed in the center of the floor with a book on it.
Yes, a small lectern with a book on it; that was the only thing inside the entire tower.
Ange's thought drifted over and touched the book, to his surprise, it was made of bronze— solid and heavy.
With Ange's touch, the bronze book flipped open as if by brushing, and a massive phantom shot into the sky, instantly filling the interior space of the entire tower, which was the phantom of the book.
Ange began to understand why this tower had to be built so high. If it weren't, it couldn't have accommodated the book's phantom.
The book's phantom stood upright, displaying the inside pages. The pages were initially blank, but as they flipped, golden characters gradually emerged on the pages.
Ange tilted his head, staring blankly for a long time without moving.
From the pages, a phantom of a Bronze Giant Dragon emerged, puzzled, saying, "How come it's a little skeleton? Ahem, um, isn't it possible that you can't read?"
Ange nodded.
"Why would you come to a library if you can't read? Nonsense." The Bronze Giant Dragon complained, "Forget it. Though I can dictate, it would lack elegance, so lucky you."
A stream of information poured into Ange's soul, directly imprinting on it.
"Hmm? Your soul is quite solid. Why are you only at Ashbone Level?" the Bronze Giant Dragon mumbled in confusion.
Ange was bewildered. He didn't understand what it meant. However, he comprehended the characters on the pages; the information the Bronze Giant Dragon imprinted on his soul was a knowledge of the text.
The text on the pages read: Bronze Book, all-knowing, only one question can be asked each time.
Can ask questions? All-knowing? Ange tilted his head, asking with his soul, "Who are you?"
"Hahaha, finally someone asked this question, finally someone asked this question! Oh my, oh my, you're so clever to have thought of asking this?" The Bronze Giant Dragon was so excited that it almost leapt off the pages.
Anyone permitted to enter the library knew about the Bronze Dragon. Given the rule here is to ask only one question, no one would waste the precious chance to ask who the Bronze Dragon is. The Bronze Giant Dragon is just the Bronze Giant Dragon, who else could it be?
"Smart kid, you've asked the right question. Listen well: I am the Bronze Book, God of Knowledge, the all-knowing Negris!" Negris' voice resounded in Ange's soul like a mighty bell.
Ange tilted his head, looking at it. Negris also craned its neck to gaze at Ange. After a long stare-down, Negris couldn't hold back and asked, "Have you never heard of my name?"
Ange nodded.
Negris slumped, "I figured, what could a little skeleton know? Don't you have any other questions to ask?"
Ange tilted his head, his soul emitting a confused inquiry: "One question."
"Doesn't count, doesn't count. That wasn't a question but a reward. Anyone who knows my divine name can call my name to ask me a question daily." Negris quickly answered.
That was initially a mischievous trap set by Negris. If anyone asked who he was, he would reply and inform them that it counted as a question. Then, at their dismay, tell them they could invoke his divine name to ask him questions, one per day.
Having struggled to enter the library and being able to ask only one question, then turning into a situation where they could ask daily, was indeed a reward. Negris could then watch their faces shift from intense sadness to great joy, relishing the rollercoaster of emotions, satisfying its mischievous nature.
However, since Negris was sealed here thousands of years ago, no one fell for the trap. Who wouldn't inquire about Negris' background before coming in? As for his divine name, nobody cared; no matter how powerful a god, wasn't he still sealed here? Could he be mightier than the Undead King?
Thousands of years later, finally, someone fell into the trap, but it was Ange, who didn't play by the rules. After asking who he was, Ange actually didn't plan to ask anything else, almost stifling Negris.
"Go ahead, ask another. I am the all-knowing God of Knowledge, nothing is beyond me." Ange's indifferent attitude unnerved Negris, who couldn't help but urge him on. It had prepared to properly answer Ange's question, letting him feel the power of the God of Knowledge.
"Oh." Ange pondered a moment, then asked, "Where did the King go?"
The colossal phantom of the bronze book snapped shut with a bang, enfolding the phantom of the Bronze Dragon, then quickly shrank back to the lectern's bronze entity. With a snap, the real bronze book closed too.
Negris' annoyed voice echoed in the space, "I don't know."
So many questions and he asked this one, precisely the one Negris also wanted to know— where did the Undead King go? Clearly a little skeleton, yet with such an odd character, asking such tricky questions, utterly uncooperative, enough, strike!
Looking at the restored space, Ange tilted his head and retracted his thoughts. The Bronze Giant Dragon's little tantrum didn't affect him at all. Ange was just a little skeleton, without many questions needing answers.
Shifting his thoughts, intending to drift towards another building complex, Ange felt someone push him, indeed his body being pushed.
Ange's mind returned to his body, instantly feeling someone shaking him frantically. Turning his head, he found it was the Little Zombie.
Seeing Ange react, the Little Zombie, who was anxiously yelping, continued to yap, frantically pointing in one direction. Ange followed the direction pointed by the Little Zombie and saw a Tough Skin Zombie shuffling from afar, eyes rolled back, hands extended long, menacingly reaching out to grab Ange.
Did this count as 'active aggression'? A question popped up in Ange's soul. He reached to his waist, drew a scythe, and skillfully swung it.